Albon targets Williams resurgence as chassis woes end

Alex Albon believes Williams' early-season woes are now firmly behind it as a third chassis will be available from the Miami Grand Prix.

Delays in pre-season car build meant Williams only had two chassis available for the opening rounds of the season - which was brutally exposed in Australia when Albon crashed in practice in Australia.

His FW46 was damaged beyond immediate repair, as boss James Vowles took the decision to bench Logan Sargeant for Albon, who was deemed a better prospect for points.

The damaged tub was returned to the factory for repairs before the Japanese GP, but both Sargeant and Albon suffered big crashes during the weekend. The chassis repairs has meant that planned upgrades could not be filtered through to the car.

Fortunately, Williams will have a third chassis available for round six of the season in Miami - but Albon admitted it wouldn't change his approach.

"It is arriving, its not here right now, but it will be here [in Miami]," the 28-year-old told media including RacingNews365.

"Truthfully, it doesn't change anything - it hasn't since the start of the year, I'll still drive the same, but it is nice to know that there's a bit of a safety net to any moments.

"It's been a lot of effort for the team, it feels like we've been playing catch-up for most of the year.

"We are generally there on parts now, and with the chassis, things are just becoming a little bit more settled.

"Hopefully we can now really start to focus more on the upgrades and general development of the car."

'If you start thinking about it, you're kind of at a loss'

When it was put to Albon that the timing of the third chassis arriving was fortunate, given the event in Miami is a sprint weekend and held on a street circuit, he agreed there was added jeopardy, highlighting how important having a backup has become due to the current F1 calendar.

"We've had a few sprint races early in the season. You go to more and more street races now and quite condensed street tracks - thinking about Jeddah, Melbourne, and here, so there's an emphasis more than ever to have a third chassis for the start of the year," he contended.

"It's more of a way to get everything in order now, and focus on true development of the car, because we have been delayed," he responded to RacingNews365 when asked about the bigger picture and the implications of the third chassis issue.

"Things have not come onto the car that should have already, and now, already, this week we have a couple of little things, next week, we will have some more things.

"So, our it is chase to get back into the midfield fight. You look at results recently, we've kind of just started to slowly fall away from the Haas and the RB."

'We've started to slowly fall away'

Despite the addition of a third chassis not factoring into Albon's thinking when in the FW46, the two-time podium finisher did concede there were broader, more holistic benefits to the team at large.

Now Williams no longer has to divert resources away from improving the 2024 car, Albon is hopeful the team can get back into the mix with its rivals fighting at the top of the midfield.