Alex Albon details 'new' Williams advantage after major F1 change

Alex Albon has described the “new” approach Williams has been able to take this year following the arrival of Carlos Sainz.

Albon joined Williams in 2022 and was seen as the lead driver across the last handful of years as he was paired up with rookies or inexperienced team-mates.

However, the Grove-based squad snapped up Sainz following his exit from Ferrari, making the Spaniard the first race-winner to line up for the team since Robert Kubica in 2019.

With over 200 grand prix starts, Sainz's experience with several other F1 outfits has been a vital tool for Williams this year.

“We’re able to explore the car far quicker and in greater detail, having Carlos who is good at feedback,” Albon exclusively told RacingNews365.

“We’re extracting performance out of the car that otherwise we possibly wouldn’t have.”

While Sainz is still adjusting to his fresh surroundings, Williams can rely on Albon's three and a half years with the team to get the most out of the car.

“We both carry experience,” Albon said. “People think of me as a super-experienced driver, but I haven't done as many races as people think.

“I think Carlos has done twice as many races as I have. At the same time, we have a great combination where I'm someone who has driven the car a lot.

“I know the Williams DNA, and you have someone who has driven other cars more than that and knows what can be achievable.

“On my side, it's almost like I understand how to get [pace] out of it and how to improvise.”

Alex Albon details 'identical' Carlos Sainz set up approach

Williams entered the season following a difficult campaign last year, which saw it finish ninth in the constructors' championship with 17 points.

14 rounds into the current term, Williams has far surpassed its 2024 points tally. Sitting fifth in the standings with 70 points to its name, it is now targeting its first top-half finish in the constructors' standings in eight years.

While Albon has scored over three-quarters of Williams' points this year, the Thai driver highlighted his set-up choices are almost identical to Sainz - a useful benefit for the team that differs to its options in the past.

“We have two cars when we go into FP1 that we can go around and just explore setup, explore different directions that we need to test, whether it's for next year's car, this year's car, whatever it may be, and even driving-wise,” he said.

“By the time they get to FP3, we pretty much converge. Most sessions, we end up in qualifying almost identical in terms of set up.

“That’s new - that kind of style of us going racing hasn’t been in since I first joined the team. 

“A lot of the time it was no fault of anyone, but the person who was alongside me was normally a rookie or relatively inexperienced.

“I’d carry a lot of the development work. You could argue that now we’re operating 200% quicker than we were before.”