Albon pinpoints three F1 rivals’ influence in Williams transformation

Alex Albon has explained how Williams is benefitting from key players at the team sharing knowledge acquired from F1 rivals at the sharp end of the grid.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, the 28-year-old highlights how Carlos Sainz joining the Grove-based squad will help "push the team forwards", something his recent team-mates have been unable to do.

Williams is building towards the future, with an eye on when F1's regulations are overhauled for the 2026 season. The blank page will provide ample opportunity for the once-great team to continue its recovery back to competitiveness.

Team principal James Vowles maintains that immediate success is not the focus, instead placing an emphasis on long-term goals. It is a target only Albon has been able to substantively contribute to, until now.

When it was put to the Thai driver that there might be a touch of relief in having an experienced team-mate alongside him next season, he agreed, whilst zeroing in on the advantage of having key personnel extracting knowledge from some of the best teams in F1.

"Yes. Not so much for the driving part, but for pushing the team forward, yes," Albon exclusively told RacingNews365.

"In many ways, having two voices now to push that will be very beneficial.

"For example, when I joined Red Bull, and I had all that opinion and mindset from Red Bull's way of working.

"I see it with JV [James Vowles], coming from Mercedes, having that outtake on things and whatever, and then seeing with Carlos, I can only see it working well.

"I'm sure everyone's gonna have their notepads out and writing as much as they should. And good, I'm really excited for that."

Contributing to the 'journey'

The two-time podium finisher underlined how the reality of having rookies alongside him meant there was considerable input and resources put into helping them, whereas a driver of Sainz's experience and calibre can, like him, focus on the future of the team.

Williams endured a torrid 2024 F1 season, with 17 crashes significantly affecting the team's ability to develop its car. Whilst the majority of the incidents, and the financial impacts derived from them, were down to Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto, Albon was not immune, racking up a heavy repair bill of his own.

Overall, it resulted in a slight set back, impeding the Grove outfit's ascent up the F1 standings, as it fell from seventh - and 28 points - in 2023 to ninth, and just 17 points, in the most recent campaign.

However, Albon now feels the team is well-positioned to execute on Vowles' vision, with both drivers able to contribute to the "journey" Williams wants to be on.

"Obviously, when the rookies are coming in, there's a lot of input around getting them up to speed, and more focused on the driving side of it," he says. 

"Rather than the things beyond that: the journey that we want to be on, and not just optimising the weekends, but optimising the future.

"Carlos is going to be on a long-term contract, I'm on a long-term contract.

"To know that we're both in this together, in this longer format, let's say, it benefits both of us to really elevate the team and go forward, so that's why I'm excited about it."