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Alex Albon reaffirms his commitment to Williams by penning a new deal ahead of the Dutch GP, despite a tough start to the 2026 F1 season with the team ninth in the constructors’ championship. Williams came into the ongoing campaign with the aim of challenging the upper-midfield and hopes of taking the fight to the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. Armed with a Mercedes power unit, their ambitions had led to them securing the signatures of Albon and a four-time Grand Prix winner in Carlos Sainz heading into the new era of Formula 1. Despite a capable FW-47 package in 2025, the team halted development early to commit all of their resources to the new rules but the reality has been starkly different to their dreams. The team missed one of the three preseason tests and began to become plagued by a series of issues, namely with the car being overweight relative to their competitors based on data leaked at the Japanese GP. Consequently, Williams have recorded just five points finishes through 12 races heading into the Dutch GP and have just 11 points on the board as a team, leaving them behind newcomers in Audi and low-budget competitors in Haas. More from the Dutch GP Catch up with Total Motorsport’s latest Dutch GP coverage, including Kimi Antonelli’s FP1 performance at Zandvoort, the full practice times, Max Verstappen’s future comments, Mercedes’ driver relationship concerns, and Lando Norris’ McLaren demands. Meanwhile Sainz and Albon place 15th and 16th respectively, finishing qualifying at the Hungarian GP 3.4 seconds off-the-pace and completing the weekend at the Hungaroring two laps down. There are fears that Sainz, feeling he has been mis-sold a dream of challenging at the front again, may leave the team to chase a move closer to the front. But that can no longer be applied to Albon as he reaffirms his commitment to Williams into the 2027 F1 season by agreeing to a new deal ahead of Dutch GP. Albon reaffirms commitment to Williams: What do we know? Albon joined Williams ahead of the 2022 F1 season having initially been ejected from the sport following a difficult stint with Red Bull in 2020, where he was often half-a-second slower than Max Verstappen. Since then, he has gradually begun to rebuild his reputation into that of a capable midfield driver as he comfortably dominated teammates Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant. He is now regarded as one of the grid’s stronger midfield drivers and reports even briefly entertained a potential return to Red Bull in that year, meaning his reputation is holding up through Williams’ difficult start to 2026. Albon has now agreed to one-year extension to remain at Grove through until the end of the 2027 Formula 1 season, continuing to extend his record as Williams’ longest-serving driver. “The transformation this team has made is difficult to put into words,” Albon said, officially. “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. “Our story is not over yet, so my full focus now is on doing whatever it takes to get us back up the grid.” The 30-year-old won credit for performances at the 2022 Australian GP and 2023 Canadian GP to name a few, before securing a very commanding effort in 2025 with his strongest season in the sport to date. The Thai-Brit recorded 73 points and led Sainz in the standings, with particular highlights being fifth in Australia, Miami and the Netherlands, along with sixth at the Belgian GP on a difficult and rainy afternoon. The one-year deal offers relief to James Vowles, who has led the organisation as team principal since joining the outfit from Mercedes. He is under pressure to turn the fortunes around. “Alex has been a leader of this transformation project since day one,” Vowles said. “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.” At the same time, the deal will offer Albon the chance to get away if Williams do not improve substantially by the end of 2027, offering him the chance to explore potential moves to the likes of Alpine, Aston Martin, Audi, Cadillac or Haas.