Williams driver Alex Albon discussed the significant step forward the team had made ahead of the F1 Singapore GP. He touched on the potential for the car to be competitive at the Marina Bay Circuit, the challenges posed by the intense heat, and the addition of a cooling vest to help manage race conditions.
Williams’ pace around the Marina Bay Circuit
Williams started their 2025 season in a stronger position than many expected. Heading into the F1 Singapore GP, they are currently the fastest midfield team on average, with a gap of 0.198 seconds to the top, while Racing Bulls trail slightly at 0.233 seconds. In the Constructors’ Championship, Williams sit in P5 with 101 points, compared to Racing Bulls in P6 with 72 points.
When asked about their pace at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Albon admitted uncertainty over how the weekend will unfold. While the current setup doesn’t perfectly favor high-downforce tracks, the car compensates in other areas, leaving potential for a competitive weekend.
“I’d say it’s not normally a track that we’ve gone well at, but we’ve proven a lot this year that it doesn’t really carry over from previous years. It’ll be interesting to see where we fall. We generally don’t like high-downforce circuits, but we’ve noticed we are quite good on ride, and obviously this track’s quite bumpy. So maybe one weakness is one strength, and we can do a good job here.”
F1 Singapore GP Race declared a heat hazard
Following the extreme heat and humidity at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, the FIA began exploring ways to better manage such conditions in future races.
Ahead of the 2025 season, the FIA confirmed that a “heat hazard” can be declared if pre-weekend forecasts predict temperatures above 31°C during a Sprint or Grand Prix. With this warning active for the F1 Singapore GP, all teams must fit a Driver Cooling System.
The system delivers additional cooling during the race and consists of a pump, plumbing, and thermal store. Cold fluid circulates through a fireproof vest with integrated cooling tubes, keeping the driver comfortable.
While cars must carry all core components, drivers are not required to wear the vest. However, Albon is seriously considering using it this weekend, noting that he doesn’t see it as a bad thing.
“I think it’s a nice thing that we’ve got a choice at least to use this cooling vest or not. Different teams have different solutions, and within the cooling vest itself there are different ways to make it work. I don’t see it as a bad thing—and I think it’s safe.“
Not the first time Williams’ have used the cooling system
The F1 Singapore GP isn’t the first time Albon will potentially use the system, as Williams began experimenting with it last year and now have a solid understanding of its operation. Albon emphasised that his race preparation will remain largely the same, but with Singapore’s added heat challenges, he may rely on the cooling system slightly more than other drivers, given that he tends to struggle in high temperatures.
“It’s a good thing; it’s another step forward in terms of making all drivers comfortable. It’s likely I’ll be using it for this weekend. As a team, Williams, we started using it early last year, experimenting, so I think we’ve got a good grasp of how to make it efficient and work for us and make it comfortable. In terms of preparation, it’s not like I’m taking the cooling vest in the sauna with me—still preparing like normal. I work a bit more than maybe other drivers on it just because I feel the heat quite a lot.”
Exceeding expectations in 2025
Last year, Williams managed only 17 points from both cars across the 2024 F1 season. In contrast, this year they have well and truly surpassed expectations, currently sitting on 101 points with seven races remaining, with them hitting their previous points from 2024 by the end of Round 2.
With this progress, Albon considers the team to be only around 60–70% of the way through their development journey ahead of the F1 Singapore GP. He highlighted that achieving a podium, such as Carlos Sainz’s P3 in Baku, is an amazing milestone.
He also acknowledged that there are still areas for improvement, but the team is making the most of what they currently have. This balance of progress and potential has him genuinely excited for the future.
“I would never have said at the beginning of 2025 we would score a podium—and almost on pace as well. No. But at the same time, when we did the shakedown in Silverstone in February, it was already clear we made a big step, bigger than I imagined. What’s exciting to me is we’re only, I would consider, 60-70% in our journey—maybe even less than that—and yet we can score a podium at this time.“
“There are so many areas we haven’t untapped that we know we need to improve on. But the job we’re doing with the resources we have, we can already nip at the heels of the top teams, which makes me believe even more that we can do a better job.”
