news-engine

First F1 silly season domino falls as struggling team targets ‘great things’ Alex Albon will continue racing at Williams for at least one more season in what the team describes as “a clear signal of belief” in its ability to turn around its 2026 struggles. Williams boss James Vowles had pegged this year’s regulation changes as its chance to step out of the midfield and towards the frontrunning group, but the 2026 car has been disappointment, arriving late, slow and overweight. Limited progress has been made through the season, and though a B-spec car is due at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next month, the team is playing down the size of the improvement. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The team’s struggles have put a spotlight on Albon and teammate Carlos Sainz in a season as many as 17 seats could have changed hands, and both were believed to be considering their futures during the mid-season break. However, few of those potentially available seats were in the frontrunning group, and Max Verstappen — the leading driver most likely to move and trigger a frenzy — looks increasingly likely to stay at Red Bull Racing. Albon’s short-term extension — reportedly the taking up of a contractual option that already existed rather than a fresh deal — is therefore at least partly reflective of a lack of compelling alternatives. It will also give him flexibility to play the market again next season. PIT TALK PODCAST: Formula 1 returns from its midseason break this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix, but there’s more to be decided than just the championship. | Listen to Pit Talk here > “One tough year doesn’t tell the full picture, and it only gives me more motivation to keep building and pushing together with the factory and our fans to achieve great things,” Albon said. “Our story is not over yet, so my full focus now is on doing whatever it takes to get us back up the grid.” Albon said that the team’s internal improvements since he joined in 2022 are “difficult to put into words,” and team boss James Vowles described the Thai driver as a key part of those structural changes. “I am delighted that Alex and Williams are continuing our extraordinary journey together,” he said. “Alex has been a leader of this transformation project since day one, and we have plenty of unfinished business that we are determined to achieve. “Alex is one of the best drivers on the grid and knows better than anyone the enormous improvements we have made in recent years. Re-signing him shows the belief we both have in the direction we are heading.” Albon became the most experienced Williams driver in history this season, surpassing Nigel Mansell’s 95 starts for the team in Barcelona and competing in his 100th grand prix for the team in Hungary before the break. Next season will be his eighth campaign in Formula 1, having debuted for Toro Rosso in 2019. He moved to Red Bull Racing later that year, replacing Pierre Gasly, but was sidelined at the end of 2020 until signing for Williams in 2022. Sainz, in his second season with the team, remains out of contract, having been more vociferously critical of the car and publicly doubtful of the team’s progress and direction this year. A four-time winner with Ferrari, Sainz has a better hand to play in the silly season, particularly among the top teams. However, Spanish paper Marca has reported he is now in exclusive negotiations with Williams over a one-year extension which will likely see his pay markedly increased. A boosted pay packet would reflect Williams’s desperation to keep Sainz as well as the Spaniard’s ascent to the top of the team. Sainz is comfortably eclipsing Albon this season, particularly in qualifying, albeit unreliability and other car problems have sometimes made direct comparisons difficult. Williams entered its first race in 1977 and had won its first title by 1980. It has won nine constructors championships and seven drivers titles, though the last of them came in 1997. The team will celebrate its 50th anniversary next season.