Alex Albon has detailed the behind-the-scenes changes since 2023 at Williams that have inspired the team’s improved competitiveness in Formula 1 this season.
The Anglo-Thai driver has been pivotal to the Grove-based team’s resurgence in the ground effects era of the sport.
Since his Red Bull sacking, Albon has chipped away at Williams to not only carve out a reputation for himself as a dependable driver but also aid the team’s rise.
After a breakthrough season in 2023 – leading Williams to seventh – last year was a brutal reality check in terms of performance on track as it has slipped to ninth.
However, Albon, reflecting on the last couple of years, has commended the workings back at the factory that have propelled the outfit to fifth in the championship.
“It’s interesting to me, because the step from ’23 to ’24 – people must have seen that as a backstep in terms of performance – but actually the ground roots of the team changed the most at that point,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“That’s been one of the biggest steps of all the years I’ve spent with the team. What you’re seeing this year comes from a lot of the changes we made a couple of years ago.”
Albon also credited Team Principal James Vowles’ involvement and how his leadership style of setting realistic expecations within the team has reinforced Albon’s decision to sign with the team.
“’I’m happy where I am. I like that James is very honest about our weaknesses and strengths as a team, and it makes the journey believable,” he asserted.
“It’s not ‘Next year we’re going to be at the very front.’ It’s a calculated, realistic plan he has in mind.
“So far, it feels like we’re on the road he’s explained, and that makes me feel like I’m in a good place.”
Albon confident Williams can make further strides in 2026 and beyond
With only a handful of races remaining this season, Williams is en route to its best finish since the 2017 season.
Albon’s team-mate Carlos Sainz scored his first podium with the team in Azerbaijan a few weeks ago – ending Williams’ podium drought since the 2021 season, too.
Looking back at the start of the season, Albon conceded that while he was aware that the team had made strides forward in terms of its package, he did not expect the team to be fighting for podiums on merit.
“I would never have said at the beginning of 2025 we would score a podium – and almost on pace as well,” admitted Albon.
“No. But at the same time, when we did the shakedown in Silverstone in February, it was already clear we made a big step, bigger than I imagined.”
That said, the results he has seen on track and the work still to be done back at base have given Albon confidence that the team has the potential to realistically be at the very front of the field in the coming years.
“What’s exciting to me is we’re only, I would consider, 60-70 per cent in our journey – maybe even less than that – and yet we can score a podium at this time,” he revealed.
“There are so many areas we haven’t untapped that we know we need to improve on.
“But the job we’re doing with the resources we have, we can already nip at the heels of the top teams, which makes me believe even more that we can do a better job.”
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