Alex Albon recently extended his contract at Williams beyond 2025. Despite being a sought-after driver in next year’s volatile driver market, he opted to stay put at Williams. While this extension may include a hefty pay hike, Albon is still not at the level of other top drivers when it comes to his salary. He realized the same while having a conversation with an unnamed driver about their “yacht needs“.
Speaking about the same on a recent episode of the Fast and the Curious podcast, Albon said, “He was talking to me and saying how he is going to get a yacht. He told me that [the] yacht’s too big and he needs a yacht, boat to satisfy his other aquatic needs. I was just like what contracts are you on”.
The 28-year-old was quite surprised to see such a luxurious outlook from his peer driver. He stated, “I wanted to punch him then and there. I had to remind the person how ridiculous they sound”.
Albon further highlighted the perks of drivers having a yacht, especially at the Monaco GP. The Grand Prix weekend in the Principality sees a lot of yachts from the French Riviera gather at the Monaco harbor.
Amid all this yacht traffic, drivers get their special parking allocation if they are bringing their yachts to the Grand Prix. However, with most drivers living in Monaco nowadays, Albon explained that they opt to not take that parking allocation, if they don’t have a yacht or are not going to use it.
However, the #23 driver joked that with his new contract, he may also buy a yacht at some point. While Albon may have negotiated for a good raise, the logic of his extension at Williams is quite performance-centric.
Why has Alex Albon extended his stay at Williams?
Williams have been on the lower end of the F1 pecking order for a while now. So, Alex Albon wanting to extend his contract with the Grove outfit despite them being way off the mark for podium contention can be perplexing.
However, Albon elaborated on the podcast how they are making extensive changes at the team, and team boss James Vowles has an ambitious vision with good plans to execute it. Thus, the 28-year-old believes in the team and Vowles’ vision.
He mentioned how his confidence in the Williams outfit made it an easy decision for him to not look elsewhere for his future. Meanwhile, the seats currently available on the grid are also not assuring Albon of a friendly environment like he has gotten used to at Williams.
BREAKING: Alex Albon commits to Williams on a multi-year contract extension!#F1 pic.twitter.com/PxNFTNQG4j
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 15, 2024
Albon mentioned that the changes they are making will have good effects on their performance. He cited how it would be “naive” of them to just admit that they won’t make huge gains, as it would just demoralize the entire squad.
While it is a steep climb for Williams to become a regular podium contender, the 2026 regulations will offer them that opportunity for the long term. As the new regulations clean the slate for all teams, the Grove outfit can capitalize to take a massive leap in performance, if they execute their plans correctly.
