Alex Albon surprised the entire F1 community after he extended his contract with Williams earlier this year. Many experts had claimed that the Thai driver would leave for a top side after his contract with the Grove-based outfit was ending this year. Albon has been performing exceptionally well over the past season and a half, and attracting interest from other teams. However, the 28-year-old recently revealed how Williams’ partnership with Mercedes convinced him to extend his stay.
As quoted by Planet F1, Albon said, “For sure it is, I think Mercedes time and time again, when it comes to these regulation changes, they seem to be one step ahead of their rivals. Not to say I don’t think other teams will do a good job, but I think it’s at least a safe bet”.
The 28-year-old probably considers Mercedes’ engines a “safe bet” because of how well the Silver Arrows coped with the regulation changes about power units back in 2014. The Brackley outfit established unprecedented dominance during the turbo hybrid era as they won a record eighth consecutive championships from 2014 to 2021.
Moreover, even Mercedes’ other customer teams performed exceptionally well back then. Williams themselves finished third in the Constructors’ Championship, both in 2014 and 2015.
Albon will now hope that Williams can rediscover a similar level of form when F1 introduces new regulations in 2026. Furthermore, the Grove outfit is linked with other top drivers such as Carlos Sainz. Thus, many perhaps believe that they have the potential to return among the frontrunners despite having had several below-par seasons recently.
Will Williams sign Carlos Sainz?
Carlos Sainz has emerged as the top candidate to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams in recent times. Williams seems as the best possible destination for the 29-year-old at the moment as none of the other top sides such as Mercedes and Red Bull are keen on signing him.
Reports have recently claimed that Mercedes are more interested in replacing outgoing Lewis Hamilton with the highly talented teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Meanwhile, Red Bull are reportedly not keen on signing Sainz as the Spaniard did not share the best of teammate relations with Max Verstappen during their Toro Rosso days.
Hence, to keep the harmony in the team, reports have suggested that Red Bull will either extend Sergio Perez’s contract or choose to promote one of their current V-CARB drivers (Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda) to the senior team. This scenario leaves Sainz with very limited options for his future.
Other than Williams, Sainz’s other option could be to move to Sauber, which will become the Audi works team in 2026. However, a move to the German team would be risky because of their lack of experience in producing a power unit.
Therefore, Williams is likely Sainz’s best option, as Albon suggested. However, it is pertinent to note that the Grove-based outfit have also reportedly had links with former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who is likely to provide Sainz good competition for that second seat.
