Alex Albon has admitted that next year’s Formula 1 rule changes could prove to be a hurdle to current progress shown by Williams, citing Mercedes as an example.
The Grove-based squad is enjoying its best F1 season for some time, currently heading up the midfield battle, sitting fifth in the the Constructors’ Championship.
18 points clear of Aston Martin in sixth, Williams has been able to boast top 10 finishes in all but four of the 14 rounds so far, with 54 of those points scored by Albon.
After being one of F1’s most competitive teams after Mercedes when the V6 hybrid era began in 2014, the team began to suffer a significant lull amid its sale by the Williams family.
The ground effect period of this era, which commenced in 2022, has seen little progress either, but Williams have now begun to crack the code.
However, next year sees the introduction of some of F1’s most radical technical regulation changes in its 75-year history, something that concerns the Anglo-Thai driver.
“It is, it is [a concern],” Albon told RacingNews365./
“A good example would be Mercedes. On the last generation of cars, they had a car that they dominated, and then they didn’t.
“I think the best teams still find a way. They still seem to be able to get everyone together, be adaptable, go up and still fight their way back up to the top.”
Williams ‘have foundations to bounce back’
Albon is natrually chomping at the bit to get the team back to where it used to proudly place itself – at the very top of F1.
The 29-year-old has been a focal part of its steady progress towards the midfield, having impressed amid its difficult periods since joining the team in 2022.
But Albon believes that even if the rule changes may truncate the team’s current upward trajectory, there is a good platform which should make it just a temporary blip.
“I think as a team, if I look at where we were three years ago and you asked me, ‘what happens if you plateau? What would happen there?’” he said.
“I would be like ‘yeah, that’s a talking point’. But now, we’re not there yet, but we’re in such a healthier position.
“Even if next year is not where we want to be, I still feel like we’ve got good foundations to bounce back.
“We still want to improve [the foundations], and we are.
“The amount of movement at Grove is huge, so as long as I still believe in the project, I’m happy to. I don’t want it to wait, but I’m happy to wait.”
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