Formula 1 will look different in 2026, with smaller cars, new power units, and a power-boost mode that replaces the current DRS system. The pinnacle of motorsport hits the restart button, and every team will have to start from ground zero.
According to Alex Albon, 2026 will be the ultimate test of adaptability for both teams and drivers alike. Needless to say, the Thai-British driver believes Williams will rise to the occasion.
Alex Albon shares Williams’ advantage for the next season
Williams is a Championship-winning team whose light slowly dimmed out with the passing of the seasons. Yet, in this finite one, the Grove-based team stands in fifth position in the Constructors’ Championship – its best team finish since 2017.
Albon gives credit to James Vowles and acknowledges how the team’s internal culture shift becomes a strategic advantage:
“When I came to Williams for the first time, I remember the team was maybe a little stuck in their old ways, a little bit negative in many ways, and maybe didn’t quite have the open-mindedness that I expected or wanted at the time.”
Alex Albon Declares 2025 Is Williams’ Best F1 Season in Years After Major Progress
Albon continues, “I think culture is the biggest single factor that can influence a team’s performance […] The approach we have to race weekends, the open-mindedness, the accountability. These kinds of areas have been worked on. They’re not created overnight, and they’ve been instilled within the team over a lot of James’s leadership. “
The Williams driver clearly believes that this culture shift will grant Williams long-term success and ultimately lead them to become “podium finishers and an eventual race winner”. And while that might be true, some believe that the British outfit also has another ace up its sleeve: the Mercedes engine.
Does Williams have an edge with the Mercedes power unit?
That Williams is running on a Mercedes engine is no surprise; the two teams have been long-standing partners since 2014. However, rumours have it that Mercedes is baking the best power unit of this new era of regulations.
That leaves room to believe that Williams might have the upper hand. But, Albon delivers a dose of reality:
“I think Mercedes are pretty confident with their package […] We’re focused on ourselves, and we’ve got to extract our car as best as we can. Even if the Mercedes car is the best engine on the grid, we still have a lot of Mercedes-powered teams on the grid as well.”
Running the German manufacturer’s engine might be a step in the right direction for the Grove-based team, but it certainly is not the ‘x-factor’ it’s perceived to be. The new season will be a combination of man and machine, and above all, adaptability.
According to Albon, drivers will have to “stay open-minded” to understand how to extract lap time from the cars. The season will bring new challenges, and the winners will be the teams and drivers who are malleable enough to measure up. Resilience, adaptability and hunger will be key performance indicators in the new season. Williams has all of those.
