Williams driver Alex Albon has had a strong start to the 2025 F1 season, currently sitting P8 in the World Drivers’ Championship. Williams currently sits P5 in the World Constructors’ Championship, having gained four positions from the end of last season. Albon hopes to keep the team’s momentum going in Miami.
Alex Albon spoke in a print media session ahead of the F1 Miami GP on Thursday.
Williams is looking forward to the 2026 regulations
Albon discussed Williams’ approach towards car development ahead of 2026 regulation changes. Since the midfield battle is incredibly close, Albon explained that Williams needs to maximize their points scoring potential every weekend. However, Albon re-affirmed the team’s focus on the 2026 regulations rather than pushing development of the FW47.
“I feel like there’s a really big emphasis on [Williams] right now to score points. I’ve talked about it before, but you don’t know when the next upgrade is going to come on a rival team. So, you have to go into every race, especially in our position where we feel like we might not always be the fifth quickest car, but we are consistently there to score points.
“We’re never really the seventh quickest car, we will be the fifth or the sixth. For now, I feel like the only race we missed out on was Bahrain, where I think it was quite a clear chance to score points. I think in a midfield battle, when it is so unpredictable, there’s crashes, there’s such tight margins to be able to say that we’ve scored … It’s a great job and a testament to what we’re doing so far.
“It’s not easy because if this was a different year, I would just tell you we’re not going to take our foot off the pedal and we’re going to keep focusing on keeping the season going and upgrading the car and whatnot. And that’s not actually the case this year. We’ve had a great start and we’re focusing on next year, so it is different.”
The battle between Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz remains close ahead of the F1 Miami GP
Carlos Sainz is starting to come to grips with his new car. Sainz has made Q3 in the past two races, and finished ahead of Albon at the Saudi Arabian GP for the first time this season. Albon explained how close himself and Sainz are in pace.
“I think you must really see the positions, but the lap times have always been close between us from race one.
“I’d argue in Bahrain, we never really gave ourselves a chance. We got stuck in the pit box. In Saudi, it was less than a tenth [separating Albon and Sainz], and a lot of that was just a bit of our positioning on track, so really not worried at all about it.
“You’re going to see … that you actually have to be within two hundredths of your teammate to be with him on the grid, which is a really fun thing to do. But the good thing is we’re pushing each other, and I think we’re going to be close.
“I think, in the midfield battle, we must be the most tightly matched pairing on the grid and that’s what’s keeping us scoring points, just like in Jeddah.
Albon claims increased pace of FW47 not predicted by the simulator
Albon explained that the FW47’s pace has shown significant improvements from last year. A positive surprise, the team found more pace in the car than predicted by their simulator.
“I think, directionally, I was always really confident that we were going to make progress as a team. I saw the areas and the philosophy of the car changing and the ideas we were focusing on for this year.
“When I look back at last year and looking at our weaknesses in our car, we drove it on the simulator and it was definitely better, but I’d be lying to say I think we found more pace in the car than what the simulator told us it would be. So that’s quite a rare thing to have, and a very positive thing to have, and it just shows that we’re capturing things.
“I think by reverse engineering it, we understand the good things that we’ve done to our car and that should help us grow into next year. I think when I look at some of the lap time differences from last year to this year, from [the FW46] to [the FW47], it’s quite substantial.”
Alex Albon explains that playing the “team game” can give Williams an advantage
During the Saudi Arabian GP, Sainz kept Albon within his DRS range to help Albon defend against VCARB’s Isack Hadjar. The strategy worked well, as Albon held off Hadjar and the team scored their first double points of the season. Albon stated that Williams can use teamwork to their advantage against other teams.
“I think we’ve proven to the other teams that we’re working as a unit. There are some teams that, naturally, they’re going to be fighting against each other just within the politics of the sport. For us, it’s much more of a team game and we can use that as our advantage.
“I don’t think it’s going to work in every race, but we knew it would work in Jeddah … and we executed it well. I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to execute it in other tracks too.”
Albon emphasized that he is not fighting against his teammate — Williams’ focus is towards the future.
“I think [the media looks] at it more like we’re spearing heads but we’re not.
“We’re much more long-term in our focus. I think if you’re told once we have a car, and we will have a car I believe in the future where we can fight for podiums and potentially win, then yes. Then games will come at play, but until then it’s not really in our interest.”
Alex Albon claims the car is much more “driveable” compared to last year
When asked if he had taken a step forward in his performance, Albon stated that his approach remains similar from last year. He explained that the FW47 is much more driveable compared to the FW46, aiding his performance.
“Being totally honest, I think I haven’t changed that much. I think I’ve kept a very similar approach to my previous years. There’s a little bit more to look at in terms of having a reference across on the other side of the garage. But the way that I go about my weekends are still very similar.
“I think that the biggest thing for me is more just that the car is easier to be on the limit. It’s less snappy, more predictable, less sensitive to wind changes.
“And that just makes you in general be able to deliver better laps more consistently. I still make the odd mistake here and there. It happens, but I feel like I can do a better job more consistently because the car is just a bit more drivable.”
