Alex Albon has spent the best part of four Formula 1 seasons trying to help prepare Williams to return to the front of the grid.
As the 2026 F1 regulations beckon, anticipation is building at Williams as they prepare to see the fruits of their hard work over the last few seasons. A lot of the infrastructure put in place will begin to reward the team from the start of next year.
They have an incredibly strong driver line-up, after Carlos Sainz recently secured their first podium in four years at Baku, and Albon has been beating him consistently in 2025. Team boss James Vowles has built a positive environment, and nobody quite knows what to expect from them in the future.
‘Everyone’ at Williams is excited for 2026, given that many of the promises made by Vowles about the direction they would take have come true. Sainz has been doing a ‘great’ thing in Williams debriefs, and refuses to hide anything from his teammate. There’s a true sense of togetherness.
READ MORE: Alex Albon begs Williams to ‘urgently’ fix one issue that’s ‘getting worse’ after Monza difficulties
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty ImagesAlex Albon will ‘only move’ away from Williams if Red Bull try to sign him
After Sainz has changed his ‘plans’ at Williams following the summer break, there may be a new trend arriving for the Grove-based outfit. He spent much of the first half of the campaign trying to hand them all of his Ferrari knowledge.
Now, he can begin to focus on his own performances, making sure that he gets back at Albon, who seems to have had the measure of him this year.
Even Red Bull’s owners are now keen on signing Albon once more, which shows how impressive he has been. Journalist Roberto Chinchero reports that the ‘only move’ the Thai driver would entertain would be if they offered him a seat alongside Max Verstappen, and not one at Racing Bulls.
“So he’s tied to Williams, so there’s a contract. But you know if the boss gets involved, maybe you can resolve the contract somehow, in the sense that you pay, if you pay you fix it,” he said.
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
“We need to see what the real intentions of Red Bull are, which has four seats, but only two certainties at the moment, which are Verstappen and Hadjar.
“The other two seats are still completely up for grabs, it’s still an open game because there’s Lawson involved, there’s Tsunoda involved, there’s Lindblad involved and maybe there’s also Albon involved, who would clearly only move for a Red Bull seat. I [don’t] think Albon wants to go to Racing Bulls.”
How Alex Albon can help end a nine-year Williams F1 streak in 2025
Sitting eighth in the drivers’ championship is an incredible achievement for Albon and his team, and shows how far they have come since his first season in 2022.
They finished 19th that year, with just four points to their name. With seven races to go in 2025, he has a 31-point advantage over Isack Hadjar in ninth and looks nailed on for the top eight.
Holding position would mean that he becomes Williams’ first top-eight driver since Valtteri Bottas during the 2016 season.
It’s no wonder that Red Bull want to sign the ‘fiery’ Albon to fix their own second driver woes. He has developed and matured a lot since he last drove for them in 2020, but they would need to buy him out of his current contract first.