Alex Albon has opened up on how instrumental a role Williams boss James Vowles had in him opting to commit his long-term future to the British team in Formula 1.
Williams announced last month that Albon has signed a multi-term contract renewal that will tie him to the team through F1’s next regulation change coming in 2026.
The Anglo-Thai driver’s choice to remove his name from the driver market came as a shock amid Williams’ sluggish start to this campaign with a revised car concept.
The Grove-based squad has been unable to replicate the results that saw it rise to seventh place overall last season, although Albon did secure ninth place in Monaco.
Albon has explained how the long-term plans that Vowles has in store to return Williams to the top in F1 inspired him to dispel the lingering doubts over his prospects.
“All of it was really just down to knowing James and knowing the project that was at hand,” Albon said when asked about his decision to extend with Williams.
“In some ways, I wish we started off in a better way because it would have made everything seem a little bit more logical.
“But at the end of it all, there are seismic movements going on behind the scenes at the team. It’s going to take a bit more time to truly reflect that.
“I didn’t feel pressured in terms of a time sense. It was just giving the team time to see what kind of direction the team were taking and seeing the steps forward.
“Speaking closely with James as well, seeing what he was doing in the team and what steps he was taking to bring us up the field. And I believe it.”
Vowles has been pressuring owners Dorilton Capital to modernise Williams’ outdated facilities to ensure the team can hit the ground running once the rules are reset.
Albon has explained how Vowles’ experience working within a title-winning environment with Mercedes has been vital to reversing the culture embedded at Williams.
“It’s the vision and it’s the experience of James,” he added. “He’s said it a lot of times, the out-of-date procedures that we’re doing or the software or wherever it may be.
“When you think about where we are in terms of performance now, still fighting on the fingers of points, still able to compete where we are, a lot of that is just down to the people we have within Williams. But the foundational part of the team still needs work on and you can see a lot of these changes already happening. You see this huge shift.
“I don’t know if it’s right for me to say what are they, but I see it, I’m part of it. I believe in it.
“I see the steps that the team are taking and they all seem very logical and they seem to be working already.
“As I said, it’s partly why the car was delayed and whatnot, was making these big changes. It’s taken time.
“The foundations now are becoming solid and I don’t think they were there a few years ago.”
Asked whether he could have been tempted to look elsewhere without Vowles amid reported interest from Red Bull, Albon replied: “Yes, it’s a very hypothetical question.
“But for sure, himself and the board especially, they played a big part in it.”
