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Alex Albon admits that Williams is beginning to fall behind rivals like Haas and Sauber, who have shown stronger pace in recent races. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the British GP, the Thai-British driver acknowledged that although he managed to score points at Silverstone, the team is on the back foot due to a lack of substantial upgrades.
Williams brought only minor improvements to their car at Silverstone and have not introduced a major upgrade package since Monaco. In contrast, Sauber and Haas have made significant gains through continuous development. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg claimed a surprise podium at Silverstone, while Albon finished eighth and teammate Carlos Sainz was 12th. Hulkenberg’s result has now closed the gap between Sauber and Williams in the constructors’ standings, with the Hinwil-based team rising to sixth.
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Despite still leading the midfield in the constructors’ table, Williams’ momentum appears to be stalling. Sainz has scored only two points in the last five races, while Albon has taken six, including four from his eighth-place finish at Silverstone. Before that, he had retired from three consecutive events.
Reflecting on the British GP, Albon said the team executed a strong race, but underlying issues remain. He pointed out that the FW46 continues to suffer from overheating, a problem that needs to be addressed ahead of the Belgian GP.
The 29-year-old believes their rivals are making progress because of regular upgrades and that Williams must respond soon. He admitted the team is no longer the fifth-fastest on the grid and will need to accelerate development if they are to maintain their position in the midfield battle. Describing his British GP, Albon said:
“Strong start, strong middle. This is the first race I’ve finished in a while now. We finished, and we scored points. We’re not in a bad place. We’ve just had a rough time of it. We’ll have more time to go through the data from this weekend. We’ve done a few tests in the car to see where this overheating problem is coming from. We still need to get on top of that for Spa. At the same time, I see Sauber, and I see Haas. They’re all getting quicker and quicker. They’ve put upgrades on their car. We’re now falling behind."
“At least these last couple of weekends, we haven’t been the fifth quickest team. We’re definitely further down than that. We’re doing upgrades. We want ones sooner rather than later. It will come on the car. Hopefully when it does, we can get back to where we were before.”
Carlos Sainz believes Williams is trying to find solutions but needs to execute better race weekends
Carlos Sainz believes that Williams is actively working to address their technical challenges and improve their overall performance. Speaking after the British GP, the 30-year-old driver acknowledged that while the pace of the car has shown promise, consistent results have been elusive.
The Spanish driver pointed out that upgrades are in the pipeline, which should help close the gap to their midfield rivals. However, he emphasized that even without new parts, the team must focus on executing race weekends more effectively. According to the Spaniard, there have been multiple occasions this season where the car’s potential and driver performance haven’t been reflected in the final results. He remains hopeful that better execution and upcoming developments will help turn their season around.
Asked about the upgrades and issues on their car, Sainz said:
"We are trying our best to get on top of all these issues and situations. One thing that is keeping us calm and encouraged is that the speed of the car is there. I’m very confident we could have won the midfield battle in Austria, even almost starting from the back with the pace we had. It’s in the pipeline that has been there for a while. So we are also encouraged by that. We are just not going to keep falling back for sure.”
“Even if we haven’t developed the car, I’m extremely confident that both Canada and Austria, even Barcelona, we could have caught a point if we execute things well. There’ve been all these consecutive weekends in a row where the car potential and the speed of the team, the two drivers, has been much higher than the results that we’ve achieved.”
Williams is currently holding fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship with a total of 59 points. However, Sauber’s steady rise, capped by a podium finish at Silverstone, has brought them to sixth place with 41 points. With just an 18-point difference and Sauber gaining momentum, the pressure is mounting on the Grove-based team to halt their slide and improve both performance and consistency.
Alex Albon has been the primary contributor to Williams’ tally, scoring 46 of their 59 points. In contrast, Carlos Sainz has managed only 13 points so far, making this his least competitive season since his stint with Renault in 2018. As rivals close in, Williams will need to deliver upgrades and maximize execution across race weekends to defend their position in the midfield battle.
