Alex Albon Addresses Carlos Sainz Williams 2025 Move - 'Can't Afford To Play A Hierarchy Style'

Alex Albon addresses Carlos Sainz's 2025 move to Williams.

Nov 15, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Williams Racing driver Alexander Albon of Thailand speaks during media availabilities at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The upcoming arrival of Carlos Sainz at Williams in 2025 is setting the stage for what could be one of the most evenly-matched team dynamics in recent Formula 1 history. Alex Albon, the current Williams driver, has now spoken out on the upcoming addition to the team.

With Sainz's transfer from Ferrari—a move prompted by Lewis Hamilton signing with the Maranello-based squad—Williams is poised to have its strongest driver lineup since the days of Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya in the early 2000s.

Sainz and Williams confirmed the news of the signing at the beginning of the F1 summer break, meaning there has been a delay in Albon commenting on his next teammate.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Albon explained to Crash.net:

“I don’t think we can afford to play a hierarchy style. We’re just here to score points. It’s so tight. I don’t think we’re going to be in the top teams for next year so we just need to make sure we have both cars performing.

“That goes back to my point, we just need to make sure we’re in a good place within the team to be able to have two drivers who are going to be fighting. I believe we’re going to be closely matched.

“He’s a highly-rated driver and it will be great to go up against him. We just need to make sure we’re in a good place within the team to be able to have two drivers that are fighting. I believe we’re going to be closely matched.

“He's a very highly rated driver and it’s going to be great to go up against him. We just need to make sure we have the foundations to be able to support that.”

When asked if it was a surprise that Williams signed the Ferrari driver, Albon responded:

“It wasn’t unexpected. I know James [Vowles] was very keen on getting Carlos early in the season. Great. I think for the most part, what I find the most exciting is when I think about me coming from Red Bull to Williams there was so much stuff that I learned from Red Bull.

“It fast-tracked a little bit where I could jump into a Williams car and knew straightaway what areas were weak, what areas were strong, what areas I need to focus on and what areas I almost could ignore and allocate my time to other things. 

"I think with Carlos coming in, he’s going to have so much experience especially with this new generation of car to know where the weaknesses are.

“I’ve spent two and a half, almost three years now driving the Williams car in this current generation of car. I have my own ideas of where we’re weak and what not. 

"With Carlos coming in with that experience from Ferrari, it’s going to be very valuable. I am sure when he comes we're going to braindump and ask him everything.”

Avoiding making comparisons, Albon concluded:

“It’s not my place to draw comparisons around. The media do the comparisons. I am concentrating on myself. I enjoy the challenges.

“I think it’s great to have Carlos onboard. I think we’re going to learn a lot from each other. I see it as an exciting thing.”