Alex Albon insists “now is the right time” for Williams to “sacrifice” a Formula 1 season thanks to the forthcoming changes to the technical regulations.
Williams Team Principal James Vowles has been installing his long-term plan for revitalising the Grove-based outfit ever since he joined the squad in 2023.
That has involved growing the Williams workforce, investing in infrastructure, revolutionising production processes and portioning staff tasks to focus on development for 2026, ‘27 and beyond.
While Williams needs to push on and improve upon a ninth-place finish in the Constructors’ standings last year, Albon argues that thanks to the sweeping regulation changes and the necessity to interpret them correctly, it’s only right to divert some more attention to the future.
Asked during last Friday’s launch of the FW47 if 2025 is going to be a transitional year for Williams, Albon told select media including Motorsport Week “I think in terms of a result-based point of view, yes.
“Because I think that every team’s, I’m sure singing from the same hymn sheet, we’re always saying that ‘26 is the important year,” Albon added.
“I think when you just look at it in terms of a general point of view, look how Red Bull got it right and had the head start for three years, four years. Only now has McLaren finally caught up.
“But that 2026 is so important to get right. If you start on the back foot, it’s so hard to catch up again.
“I think we are still in a very good place, but we just want to get ourselves in an even better place for 2026.
“That’s really, I don’t want to keep saying we’re sacrificing this year for next year – but this year is definitely a time to do that.”
How 2025 can yield strong results for Williams in the future
Albon continued to discuss how changes Williams made in 2024 should pay dividends this year and how further learning will prove fruitful further down the line.
2023’s FW45 was a peaky machine that prompted a concept shift for Williams with the FW46, perhaps contributing to a lesser points tally year-on-year (28 to 17).
2024 was a journey of discovery and Albon hopes that the FW47 this year offers up more learnings so that Williams can push its concept to stronger results.
It’s this journey of discovery that prompted Albon to explain why 2025 isn’t a complete write-off for Williams.
“There is an eye on this year,” Albon admitted.
“We still want to perform. We changed the philosophy, I’m sure you guys know, I talked about it before last year and we changed the car quite a lot.
“We changed the DNA of the car quite a lot. It improved many areas, but it also exposed and created some weaknesses in our car.
“This year, we’ve been exploring those areas and tried to fix them.
“ I think if we can understand that this year and understand the sensitivities of the car and the areas that we really need to put all our resources in — almost in terms of a conceptual point of view — it’s going to put us in a really good spot for next year.”
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