Alex Albon and Williams Racing teammate Carlos Sainz took their first double points of the season after a successful weekend at the Saudi Arabian GP. Sainz aided Albon’s race when he was battling Isack Hadjar for P9, a great moment of teamwork that secured a total six championship points for Williams.
Albon on the strategy move that secured him P9
After starting P11 due to a miscalculation in qualifying on Saturday, Albon’s racecraft put him comfortably in the points. The Thai driver made two positions in the first lap before an incident between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly brought out a safety car.
Albon was able to hold onto P9 throughout the race, notably helped by his teammate after he came under fire from the Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar. Hadjar came out of the pits behind Albon, quickly catching up to him and coming within DRS range. The Williams race engineers told Sainz to drop back to give Albon DRS in order to pull away from Hadjar.
When talking to the print media about this strategy call after the race, Albon was pleased about the decision.
“I’m really happy with how we played it. I think, who knows where Isack [Hadjar] would have finished if we didn’t do that. So, yeah, very happy. Yeah, very happy. I think we’re doing a great job here.“
Albon has had a standout start to the year. Scoring points in four of five races, he is showcasing both the driver’s race pace and the development of the team as a whole.
“We’ve had four good finishes in five races. So, I’m really proud of that as a team.”
Albon and Williams looks to be the best of the rest at this point of the season
The pace of the FW47 has been mighty so far, and now that both teammates seem to be getting confident with the car, Williams has a big target on their backs.
Albon commented on the progression of the team over the previous years he has raced with them, following the Saudi Arabian GP.
“I think we’ve come such a long way. As I said yesterday, we came back really strongly today. It’s amazing that you can, because like in previous years, you did one mistake in the weekend, you weren’t scoring points.”
“We have had one of the strongest midfield cars, that’s for sure. I’m enjoying it, but we just have to be taking advantage of this situation.”
As the season progresses, the Williams team will potentially be challenged by other teams’ upgrade packages. The fight is not over just yet for who is going to end up best of the midfield.
“We don’t know when the next midfield team is going to bring an upgrade, and when they do, that could be our run over. It’s all about maximising every weekend at the minute. I think we may have done the best of the midfield so far this year.”
Albon on the debate over focusing efforts on this year or next year with the new regulations
Success this season may not translate into pace next season with the new era of regulations coming into effect. Many midfield teams are contemplating how to find the right balance between investing effort in this year’s car and developing a fast car for the 2026 season.
Williams Racing’s newfound speed hints that the team have been putting all of their chips on the 2025 season. Albon spoke about this balancing act in his post-race interview.
“I think, honestly, we have to be quite realistic. We don’t know what everyone’s doing in terms of priority for next year.”
“We’ve not gone off to a poor start, which kind of changes the dynamic of how well we want to do this season. For next, or sacrifice next season. I think we’re sticking to our guns and we want to make a big step for next year.”
Their race pace thus far almost assures a points finish for either one of their drivers, a new kind of luxury for Albon as a longtime Williams driver.
“I think we’ve come such a long way. As I said yesterday, we came back really strongly today. It’s amazing that you can, because like in previous years, you did one mistake in the weekend, you weren’t scoring points.”
“Which is almost why sometimes, like [Saturday], when we don’t execute perfectly, it’s really frustrating. Because now is the time to score points, really. With a good start, we have to score points every weekend.”
The Williams team enters the Miami GP in two weeks, having scored two more points in five races than the team scored in the entire 24-race 2024 season. This initial success is due largely to Albon’s consistently quick race pace and the team’s dedication to developing the car.
