Big upgrade; restrained expectations for Williams in Baku

Alex Albon says the Williams upgrade that will be introduced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix carries a substantial weight saving that equates to guaranteed lap time, regardless of its aerodynamic gains.

Williams has been overweight for much of this season, after launching its car late and missing some running in pre-season. The team has targeted Baku as a venue where it will introduce a new chassis and major update to its 2026 design, and Albon says the weight saving should be a big enough step forward to deliver a notable performance improvement. 

“They’re significant [updates] if they work, so let’s see how it goes,” Albon said. “We have to be honest with ourselves. We know what it should do on paper – I think the weight’s been a big talking point and normally weight’s a guarantee, so hopefully it’s going to put us in a good place.

“The team have done a massive job back at the factory. To do a chassis change in the middle of a season is not easy. So, it’s putting us in a good place. Whether that’s to fight the midfield now, time will tell.

“Obviously we’ve been carrying a substantial weight penalty this year so far, and I think going into this weekend we’ve got ballast on the car. So, you could imagine there’s a big swing in many ways. It’s, again, a testament to how much work we’ve actually been doing behind the scenes. And I think a lot of new technology and a lot of new innovation was done to achieve that.

“The weight itself is obviously a big thing, and weight is a guarantee in terms of lap time. So that’s why we kind of know it will be a good step, regardless of how the aero side performs. But it’s a good upgrade.

“I think what you have to also appreciate is just how well the midfield especially this year are upgrading as well. If you look at the development rate of this year, it’s huge. And so even though we have a big upgrade, it’s not a magnitude that can outpace the midfield at the minute. So, it’s a good one and I think in any other year it would have been a massive one, but because of this year, the way it’s going, it’s [likely] only going to get us back into contention with that group.”

Although slightly cautious of how the aerodynamic side of the car will perform, Albon says the target is for Williams to fight for points with those teams behind the top four of Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.

“They normally work on the sim," he said. "That’s where a lot of our calculations come from. I think we’ve seen before that sometimes the sim and the track don’t always correlate, but I’m hopeful. Cosmetically, you won’t see the car be so different, but there are some small, good changes in the car that will also hopefully improve the balance as well.

“Goals are progress. Goals are hopefully to be able to fight with the – call it the upper-midfield fight, the RBs, the Alpine and the Audi. But we’ve been quite far away from that in previous races, so it’s still a big jump to make to be able to race with those teams. So obviously we need a lot for that to happen.”