Alex Albon says Williams “have the experience” as he capped a memorable Australian Grand Prix with a fourth placed finish.
It was an eventful first race of the season, eventually won by Lando Norris, who fended off Max Verstappen in damp conditions.
Despite losing Carlos Sainz early on in the race, it was a great day for Williams. The historic team sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, with Albon also fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Thai driver kept his cool in treacherous conditions to finish ahead of both Ferrari drivers. He also leapfrogged Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli who got a late five second penalty for an unsafe release.
“We know what it feels like” – Alex Albon
Speaking to F1 TV, Albon said; “I wish this wasn’t the first race because there’s not the appreciation for a P4.”
“When you grind it out and when you’ve had a tough season and get that P4 it’s amazing, we’ve just gone in and immediately P4, I am very happy, I’m not saying I’m not,” he joked.
“When you feel like the car is good and you’re driving well, you just feel like you’ve got it covered. As a team we are good in these races.”
“I see it more as we’ve got the experience over our rivals, there’s a lot of rookies coming in. We know what it feels like to drive in these conditions.”
Albon admitted that he was “under-driving” for most of the race as he struggled to find the limit in the race.
On how the Williams works as a team in the tricky conditions, Alex Albon said; “you need help, you don’t know what the weather is doing and communication is an area we’ve always been working on.”
“They knew exactly when the rain would hit and how hard it was going to hit.”
Team Principal James Vowles said; “I don’t think it’s Australia specific. We were fast in Bahrain which is a completely different circuit, we were fast when it was 48 degrees (Celsius) on Friday.”
“We’ve got to be realistic, Ferrari had a bit of a nightmare today and they have a very quick car, but Alex did a very good job today.”
On Sainz’s crash, Vowles said; “it was just an upshift, an over-delivery of the rear axel, it’s something for us to look into.”
That crash turned into some sort of a blessing for Williams. Vowles revealed that Sainz spent the race on the pit wall and helped to decide the race strategy.
“His insight was fantastic, he looked at the radar and said ‘when that hits, they won’t stay on track’ simple as that.”
“Carlos’s effort to this was key really so you can see it was a group effort really and that’s fantastic to see.”
A Great Start to a Hopeful Season for Williams – Opinion
Williams have pushed all expectation for success back to 2026 and this season was expected to be little more than a repeat of last year.
The signing of Carlos Sainz was seen as a coup for Williams with many worrying Albon would struggle to keep pace with the Spaniard.
This weekend will relieve some of those concerns after a remarkable result for the ex-Red Bull driver.
Albon held his nerve and kept calm in what was a dramatic race, but come the end of the season, it could be a huge result for the Grove team.
Rivals Alpine scored zero points, with Williams ahead of Ferrari and Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship.
There will undoubtedly be more work and challenges for Williams this season.
Last year Williams scored just 17 points. Scoring 12 in just race one alone is a great start for them.