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‘Only a blip’ – Alex Albon backs Williams to recover from 2026 slump
Alex Albon recently signed a contract extension with Williams and is backing the team to bounce back from a tough campaign.
Alex Albon has expressed his faith in the Williams Formula 1 team to bounce back from a disastrous 2026 season that sees the team on a six-race streak without a point.
Williams boss James Vowles had built expectations high ahead of the 2026 campaign, insisting throughout last year that he expected the team would become regular podium challengers in the new era. The reality that has since unfolded could not be further from this.
The only team not to build a car in time for the pre-season shakedown, delivering an overweight and under-developed car for the first three races before finally having a race one package in Miami, and now having potentially the second slowest package on the grid – Vowles must have produced quite the sales pitch to retain both Albon and Carlos Sainz for another year.
“To me, this year has been extremely frustrating, but it’s been the first time, for example, where I really see us actually looking at these issues deep to, to a level that I feel like maybe we glossed over, even last year,” said Albon
“We were having good results, and the problems were still there.
“But this year, it’s taken far more seriously to a much stronger level than ever before. This year is, what I’m hoping, a blip. Next year, I want to see that progress, and I want to see us back to what I believe is the potential of the team.”
Asked what gives him the confidence that this is only a blip, and that Williams will make progress in 2027, Albon added: “When I look at previous years to now, it felt, at least to me, like there was a constant progression.
“I don’t talk about results, because I think results are a combination of what’s being done at the factory. I talk about that because even last year, we were, for the most part, a well-oiled midfield team. We were strong in our strategy, strong in understanding the weaknesses in our car.
“We still had the intrinsic DNA issues of our car. Of course, downforce helps to hide a lot of those issues, and we’ve seen that this year when we took off the downforce, these problems get magnified.
“But it’s the fact that, for me, there was this constant rate of progression. And then this year, I’m not sure if it’s because we bit off more than we can chew, but it does feel like we’ve taken a few steps back in some areas. We’re attacking those areas, that’s clear.
“I think the reaction from JV, also, even you see it with the people that we’re employing as well, there’s a clear direction.”
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Alex Albon recently signed a contract extension with Williams and is backing the team to bounce back from a tough campaign.
Alex Albon has expressed his faith in the Williams Formula 1 team to bounce back from a disastrous 2026 season that sees the team on a six-race streak without a point.
Williams boss James Vowles had built expectations high ahead of the 2026 campaign, insisting throughout last year that he expected the team would become regular podium challengers in the new era. The reality that has since unfolded could not be further from this.
The only team not to build a car in time for the pre-season shakedown, delivering an overweight and under-developed car for the first three races before finally having a race one package in Miami, and now having potentially the second slowest package on the grid – Vowles must have produced quite the sales pitch to retain both Albon and Carlos Sainz for another year.
“To me, this year has been extremely frustrating, but it’s been the first time, for example, where I really see us actually looking at these issues deep to, to a level that I feel like maybe we glossed over, even last year,” said Albon
“We were having good results, and the problems were still there.
“But this year, it’s taken far more seriously to a much stronger level than ever before. This year is, what I’m hoping, a blip. Next year, I want to see that progress, and I want to see us back to what I believe is the potential of the team.”
Asked what gives him the confidence that this is only a blip, and that Williams will make progress in 2027, Albon added: “When I look at previous years to now, it felt, at least to me, like there was a constant progression.
“I don’t talk about results, because I think results are a combination of what’s being done at the factory. I talk about that because even last year, we were, for the most part, a well-oiled midfield team. We were strong in our strategy, strong in understanding the weaknesses in our car.
“We still had the intrinsic DNA issues of our car. Of course, downforce helps to hide a lot of those issues, and we’ve seen that this year when we took off the downforce, these problems get magnified.
“But it’s the fact that, for me, there was this constant rate of progression. And then this year, I’m not sure if it’s because we bit off more than we can chew, but it does feel like we’ve taken a few steps back in some areas. We’re attacking those areas, that’s clear.
“I think the reaction from JV, also, even you see it with the people that we’re employing as well, there’s a clear direction.”
Alex Albon has expressed his faith in the Williams Formula 1 team to bounce back from a disastrous 2026 season that sees the team on a six-race streak without a point.
Williams boss James Vowles had built expectations high ahead of the 2026 campaign, insisting throughout last year that he expected the team would become regular podium challengers in the new era. The reality that has since unfolded could not be further from this.
The only team not to build a car in time for the pre-season shakedown, delivering an overweight and under-developed car for the first three races before finally having a race one package in Miami, and now having potentially the second slowest package on the grid – Vowles must have produced quite the sales pitch to retain both Albon and Carlos Sainz for another year.
“To me, this year has been extremely frustrating, but it’s been the first time, for example, where I really see us actually looking at these issues deep to, to a level that I feel like maybe we glossed over, even last year,” said Albon
“We were having good results, and the problems were still there.
“But this year, it’s taken far more seriously to a much stronger level than ever before. This year is, what I’m hoping, a blip. Next year, I want to see that progress, and I want to see us back to what I believe is the potential of the team.”
Asked what gives him the confidence that this is only a blip, and that Williams will make progress in 2027, Albon added: “When I look at previous years to now, it felt, at least to me, like there was a constant progression.
“I don’t talk about results, because I think results are a combination of what’s being done at the factory. I talk about that because even last year, we were, for the most part, a well-oiled midfield team. We were strong in our strategy, strong in understanding the weaknesses in our car.
“We still had the intrinsic DNA issues of our car. Of course, downforce helps to hide a lot of those issues, and we’ve seen that this year when we took off the downforce, these problems get magnified.
“But it’s the fact that, for me, there was this constant rate of progression. And then this year, I’m not sure if it’s because we bit off more than we can chew, but it does feel like we’ve taken a few steps back in some areas. We’re attacking those areas, that’s clear.
“I think the reaction from JV, also, even you see it with the people that we’re employing as well, there’s a clear direction.”
[analyse_source url=”http://crash.net/f1/news/1103359/1/only-blip-alex-albon-backs-williams-recover-2026-slump”]