Albon and Sainz explain why they have kept faith in Williams despite 2026 'blip'

Tuesday’s confirmation that Alex Albon will stay at Williams for 2027, and the similar news about Carlos Sainz that followed 24 hours later, represented a real statement of intent from the team.

This has been a difficult season for the Grove-based outfit, especially in the slipstream of last year’s superb fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

At the start of the campaign the FW48 was late, overweight and uncompetitive, and while the situation has improved, it is still nowhere near where the team want or need it to be, and the drivers have made their disappointment clear.

However, in convincing both to stay on, Team Principal James Vowles is also telling the wider world that – boosted by an ongoing recruitment drive – Williams are still on target to achieve their goal of moving up the grid, using this year’s disappointments as a springboard for improvements.

The unchanged line-up also represents a show of faith from Albon and Sainz, who both still believe in the team boss’ vision.

“In many ways, it's been a frustrating year,” Albon admits. “But we're confident with the work that we're doing behind the scenes. You wish they didn't happen on you, but sometimes these years like [the one] we're having so far this year create a reaction from the team. It's a time when is it a good reaction, or a bad reaction?

“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 a level that I feel like maybe we glossed over even last year. We were having good results, and the problems were still there, the DNAs of the car 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 is a blip, and of course 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. That’s why I’ve re-signed.”

So why does he think that 2026 is, as he terms it, just a blip?

"Because when I look at previous years to now, it felt, at least to me, like there was a constant progression,” he insists. “Even last year, we were for the most part a well-oiled midfield team. We were strong in our strategy, strong in understanding our weaknesses in our car.

“We still had the intrinsic DNA issues of our car. Of course, downforce helps 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 a bit more than we can chew, but it does feel like we've taken a few steps back in some areas, and so we're attacking those areas. That's clear. I think the reaction from JV also, you see it with the people that we're employing as well – there's a clear direction.”

Sainz’s name has been linked with other teams in recent months and, as a former race winner with Ferrari, he could be forgiven for thinking that the grass might be greener elsewhere.

However, he insists that his priority was always to stay put, despite this year’s struggles.

“I don't think it's part of my character to jump ship when the situation is also at its worst,” says the Spaniard.

“I told everyone how committed I am to this project two years ago, how excited I was about it, and the first time there is a bump on the road – a big bump, probably bigger than anyone could have imagined after the podiums of last year – I don't think it's part of me, my way of being, my character, to jump ship at the first possible opportunity.

“I think in the back of my head, I wanted to always renew, but I was obviously worried, concerned that we need to make sure this doesn't happen again. And I obviously had to go back to everyone and understand where we are, where we're planning to go, and [ask] 'how has this affected our plans?'”

Sainz is adamant that those plans will bear fruit.

“There are a lot of interesting people that are coming, a lot of interesting signings,” he says. “I think there's been a lot of methodology change behind the scenes. I think there are a lot of interesting projects happening. I probably cannot go into the detail of them, but probably projects and things that are going to have an effect in the medium term.

“And then obviously that I see the team reacting as much as possible to the disappointment of this year and putting a lot of effort in the methodology and the way we are approaching next year's car, which is where we need to show progress and we need to show that we're serious about taking that step.”

Sainz agrees with Albon that Williams have to learn from what went wrong this year in order to make progress.

“I've been spending the last few months trying to understand together with the team what has happened in order to get ourselves into the situation that we are today," he explains. "Which is obviously a disappointment for everyone involved in this project – and a project that probably has now been delayed in terms of how long it's going to take us to get back to the to the top.

“I think the medium to long-term plans are still what is giving me the hope and the confidence that we can be competitive in the near future.”

And that means as soon as 2027: “I think something that is super important is as a team, as everyone involved in this project, to make sure we turn things around as soon as next year, and that we start showing again some positive momentum going into next year.”