Alex Albon realistic about Silverstone updates, that it will only get them to closer to Haas and not takeover midfield, after another disappointing outing in 2026 F1 Austrian GP.
While Williams’ teammate Carlos Sainz retired due to another power unit issue, Albon managed to see the chequered flag in F1 Austrian GP, albeit only 17th and crucially two laps down on the leaders. They were slow and had massive degradation, which hurt their chances.
Albon rues high degradation but relieved it was not another test grand prix
“Yeah, that’s where we are,” said a dejected Albon in the print media pen after F1 Austrian GP. “Very slow. Very, very, very slow. [And] massive degradation.”
The only positive was that it didn’t turn out to be a test Grand Prix like he has done earlier in the F1 2026 season. “Yes, true. Normal one, not test run,” he sighed.
F1 rivals optimising starts, Williams losing places
Albon was surprised how easily his F1 rivals could pass him, which showed the step taken up by them, especially at race starts. “Yeah, people seem to get past me pretty easily, so…not so much for myself, but maybe,” he said. “I’m surprised about that.
“I think already maybe you’re seeing everyone optimising their software, who are starting from behind. It’s a similar way to use it. And you’re not seeing these big deltas like you saw in race one.”
On internal changes, he called for better communication from Williams after F1 qualifying changes.
Williams F1 dug own grave after Q1 changes Albon was unaware of
He highlighted that he was unaware of changes made to his car, as Williams were late in communicating him. He thinks they need to be better, but didn’t think it to be a pressing issue. “Yeah, we made some changes to the car between Q1 runs two and three that I was unaware of,” said Albon.
“And I think…yeah, we could have done better, maybe, just to communicate what the changes we made to the car were. So we dug our own grave on that one, unfortunately. Yeah [I was unaware of], but that’s okay. It happens,” summed up Albon.
Albon realistic of Silverstone updates from Williams F1
Williams is set for an update in Silverstone for the 2026 F1 British GP. While it is a step in the right direction, but Albon doesn’t see it as an overhaul which will propel them to be leaders in midfield. For now, they are putting Haas as benchmark – noting how they were lapped by Racing Bulls in Austrian GP.
“I think it’s not going to get us to the midfield, but it will get us maybe closer to the Haas,” a realistic Albon said. “I think that’s maybe a sensible first step this year to get…a little bit closer to the midfield. We got lapped by the RBs (Racing Bulls), so we’re quite a long way away.”
