Alex Albon believes Williams are making progress, even if the team appears to be going backwards.
An overweight car at the start of the season culminated in a slump in form that saw it plummet to the back of the grid, an eventuality that occurred after team principal James Vowles oversaw an immediate surge in results when he took over some 19 months ago.
Albon argues that there is not much to read into Williams’ results this season because the team is laying the foundations to return to the top.
“Obviously we are not where we want to be,” he told Motorsport.com at the Hungarian Grand Prix. “To be honest, I think it’s also the other teams’ credit. The middle of the grid has made a huge step.”
“We have made a good step forward, but compared to the others we are perhaps a little behind. I think Haas has stood out in the group. But at the same time I am not here with my head in my hands trying to understand what the situation is we are in.”
“I feel like we’ve made a lot of changes within the team, from last year to this year, there have been big changes in the DNA of the car, but also in the structure of the team.”
“When you put the team through so much work and so many changes, you see the cracks. We had an overweight car, and that was made public.”
Alex Albon, Williams FW46, leads Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46
Photo by: Mark Sutton
“It’s a real shame that we weren’t right with the weights at the start of the year, because our car should have been consistently in the points for the first few races and then it would have dropped to where we are now.”
“There are a lot of hypotheses, but I’m happy that the foundations have been put in place. I don’t think that, without the changes we’ve made, I would ever see us as a team capable of emerging from the fight for the back three, and I think we now at least have the foundations to climb back up.”
Albon’s message is in line with Vowles’ words. Although the focus has shifted to the team leader, Albon said he enjoyed working with Vowles and appreciated his honesty.
He added: “I was very involved in the project. James involved me. He’s very direct. He doesn’t tell you things are better than they are, and I like that.”
“I feel like whenever something doesn’t go according to plan, he tells me what areas the team needs to work on. He tells me if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“He is the right man for the job, I believe in him and I feel we have the right people.”
Vowles laid out his vision for the future of Williams and made it clear that he does not expect to make much progress on the track until 2026 – and Albon thinks it may not be until 2027 before Williams are back competing for wins.
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing, Alex Albon, Williams Racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
He said: “If I’m completely honest, for a while I don’t see us being able to fight for wins and titles, but to make steps where we start to get podiums and so on.”
“I think 2026 would be difficult, but winning in ’27 would be much more realistic. We have a lot of investment and we are recruiting very aggressively.”
“We don’t need any encouragement. With the last couple of years, especially seeing the growth we’ve had – obviously we’re going through a more difficult time now – but that drive and that motivation in the team, it’s really nice to be a part of.”
#Exclusive #Albon #Williams #longterm #progress #palpable
