Alex Albon's F1 moment of truth: can he get the upper hand over Sainz at Williams?

A season on the sidelines in DTM and as Red Bull’s F1 reserve driver followed before he went to Williams in 2022, slipping into the shoes of the Mercedes-bound George Russell. Like his predecessor he quickly seized the initiative as lead driver, dominating first Nicholas Latifi and then Logan Sargeant, while putting in some eye-catching underdog performances.

Sainz in contrast suffered no real career setbacks as he worked his way from Toro Rosso to Renault to McLaren, gradually establishing his credentials as one of the best of this generation’s very talented crop. His move to Ferrari in 2021 put him in the superstar bracket. Over his four years with the team he earned his first poles and wins, and went head-to-head with team-mate Charles Leclerc every weekend.

In a parallel universe he would still be at Maranello and potentially set to challenge for the title in 2025. It was only the perfect storm that opened up a window of opportunity for Fred Vasseur to snag Lewis Hamilton that saw him turfed out last January.

Those different career paths now cross at Williams, with Albon still building his upwards momentum in tandem with the team, and Sainz taking a step back in an effort to ultimately take two forward.

Albon has the advantage of being the incumbent who is already well used to the team. Sainz brings the confidence that comes with being a race winner, and knowing that on his day, with the right car, he can beat anyone.

Both men have a point to prove. Albon wants to justify the team’s ongoing faith in him and reap the rewards of being a part of the difficult rebuilding process over the past three seasons, while also addressing any doubts created by Franco Colapinto’s instant pace last year. Sainz very clearly wants to show the world that he is still a potential world championship contender.

It will be fascinating to see how they compare on track, and who ultimately gets the upper hand.

“I see it more as an opportunity,” says Albon. “I think that Carlos is a very proven driver, and I think he’s just come off one of his best years in F1. I’m confident in myself, and I’m excited to have a great team-mate who I can learn from.

“I hope I can bring something to him as well. And in the end, the direction of the team is to go forward in the future. I think we’re going to work really well together. Just from what we’ve spoken about, and what we like in the car is quite similar.”

Your team-mate is always your biggest rival, and over the past three years Albon didn’t really have someone with whom he was fighting for grid positions, or coming across on track in races. Sainz in contrast was totally immersed in the head-to-head with Leclerc, a contest that was a little tense on occasion.

Albon agrees that it’s important that he and Sainz put the inevitable internal competition aside and work together for the good of the team.

“I think that this year is going to be the closest year yet for F1,” he says. “I think you saw that in Abu Dhabi. Unless someone’s created something exceptional, it’s going to be about the tenth of a second. That’s going to be your Q3s to your Q1s, kind of thing. There is no margin for error in that sense.

“And we’re going to need to be aligned, so we’re going to both need to be competitive. I think the grid genuinely this year is very strong, and so I think especially at the start of the year, as the rookies are getting up to speed, maybe there’s some opportunities there.

Just having another experienced hand alongside with all the knowledge that brings, will help.

“I’m starting my fourth year,” added Albon. “And in terms of developing the car, and having even in the most basic sense two cars in FP1 testing different things, and building a structure around there, I think it’s great. I really do believe in the journey that we’re on, and I do want the team to improve. And I know with Carlos, we can. So I’m totally up for it.”

Williams has pulled in a massive new title sponsor, and after the McLaren the FW47 was the second new car to run on track, at an event live streamed from the Silverstone garages. That shows how much progress has been made just in one year.

“Let’s look at last year,” said Albon. “We had a car that barely made the test. We were overweight, we were struggling around. We just about had two cars ready [for the season]. This year we’ve been able to do all of this. We’ve really transformed, in that sense.”

How much progress the team has made since the end of 2024 is one question, and how much it will continue to make over the course of 2025 is another.

Like its rivals, Williams is already hard at work on the 2026 project in the wind tunnel and Vowles has long promised that a flying start under the new regulations is an absolute priority.

It’s the same for everyone else, but if Williams really does switch its focus ultra-early then the first part of this season may be its best chance for good results before others edge ahead on development.

“I think that every team is singing from the same hymn sheet,” says Albon. “We’re all saying that ’26 is the important year. When you just look at it in terms of a general point of view, look how Red Bull got it right [in 2022] and had the head start for three years, and only now has McLaren finally caught them up.

“But in 2026, it’s so important to get right. If you start on the back foot, it’s so hard to catch up again. So I think we are still in a very good place, but we just want to get ourselves in an even better place for 2026.

“I don’t want to keep saying we’re sacrificing this year for next year. But this year is definitely a time to do that. There is an eye on this year, we still want to perform. We changed the philosophy last year, we changed the DNA of the car quite a lot. It improved in many areas, but it also exposed and created some weaknesses in our car. This year, we’ve been exploring those areas and trying to fix them.

“I think if we can understand that and understand the sensitivities of the car in the areas that we really need to kind of put all our resources in, almost in terms of a conceptual point of view, it’s going to put us in a really good spot for the next year.”

For Vowles, juggling the interests of Albon and Sainz will be a challenge, but ultimately it’s a good problem to have – and he’s already made it clear that what really matters is the bigger picture of moving Williams up the grid.

“This will not be successful if any one individual is above the team,” says the team boss. “That’s whether it’s myself, Carlos or Alex. It needs all three of us and then a thousand individuals pointing the right way, with the sole goal of this team becoming championship contenders.

“And that means that along the journey there’s going to be issues. There’s going to be one driver or one individual that is doing worse on one weekend than the other. They’re aware of that, and we’ve already had that direct chat about it, and they’re very much in the mindset.

“In fact furthermore they came up with suggestions and ideas of how we actually we can make this better. So they’re alive with it. They know where they are. They know where we’re going. And the bigger goal is how do we bring the team forward?”