Alex Albon says Williams will abandon their F1 2025 season to focus on next year once they’ve managed to lock down fifth in the constructors’ championship, following an impressive result at the Miami Grand Prix.
The Thai-Brit led home Carlos Sainz to finish fifth and ninth at the Miami International Autodrome on May 4 and collect a huge 12 points to edge away from Haas in the standings, who now trail by 17 points.
The tally is the latest sign of form displayed by James Vowles’ Grove outfit, who have enjoyed a renaissance in the 2025 Formula 1 season and now have 37 points on the board through six races.
Considering they finished 2024 with 17 points in total, it’s a remarkable turnaround of fortunes and will see the team collect substantial prize money if they can successfully defend their position.
But with the dawn of new regulations in the next season creating a noticeable shift away from ground effect, when exactly will they turn their eyes to next year? Albon reveals when Williams will abandon the F1 2025 season.
“You can look at it both ways,” Albon told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “You can look at it like, ‘Do we have the gap now that we don’t need to focus on this year,’ or do we need to keep going?
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“Realistically, we’re not going to get fourth in the constructors, so the focus is trying to keep fifth. We likely have a different upgrade plan to the other teams this year and we are focused on next year as well.
“But at the same time, yes. I’m enjoying this year a lot so far.”
Albon surprised by Williams speed
Williams have enjoyed a privileged honour in F1 so far this season by generally being the best of the rest behind the leading pack of McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari but they managed to surprise themselves in Miami.
The 29-year-old from London managed to finish fifth in the Sprint ahead of a Mercedes and Red Bull before a time penalty dropped him out of the points order, and he spent large parts of the race hugging the gearbox of Lewis Hamilton.
He then proved it wasn’t a fluke by qualifying ahead of both Ferraris and going on to secure fifth ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc and Hamilton as Williams displayed very competitive pace.
It left the driver and team stunned by the outcome, so where did the speed come from? Albon admits the track plays into their strengths and they also managed to hit the ground running.
“I think this weekend has surprised us for sure,” Albon added. “We’ve been speaking about it on every debrief so far, ‘Why are we good this weekend?’
“It’s a bit of a… Not a question mark, but what about this track that really suits us? I think we understand it to the most part is this track, generally, doesn’t have corners that we don’t like. Let’s say it like that.
“From the first lap in FP1, the car was in a good place and we could build very quickly which, on a Sprint Race weekend, is very important.”
