Why Alexander Albon is struggling so much in the 2026 Formula 1 season

– Alexander Albon has not really warmed up to the new Formula 1 regulations yet. Although Williams is struggling with major difficulties overall in the 2026 season, Albon himself was regularly slower than his teammate Carlos Sainz in the first half of the season.

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While Albon narrowly won the internal Williams duel against the Spaniard in the 2025 season with 73:64 points, Sainz is currently ahead with 6:5 points. At first glance, this does not seem catastrophic from Albon’s perspective, but in the race duel (including sprints) it stands 10:5 for his teammate, and in qualifying duel even 13:2.

“These rules do not play to my strengths,” says Albon about the new regulations and explains: “There are no more high-speed sections. I have always considered high-speed to be one of my strengths.”

“But now with the high-speed corners, you either take them flat out […] or we just drive in so slowly that they are no longer high-speed corners,” Albon explains with regard to energy management.

Among others, Fernando Alonso had also already stated during the first half of the season that with the new regulations “the high-speed corners have now become pure charging stations for the car.” According to Albon himself, this harms him.

Additional “layer” through new regulations

But apart from that, the 30-year-old is struggling. “Then it’s also simply about understanding these rules. The cars and these tires are quite sensitive, and at the moment we haven’t really found the ‘sweet spot’ yet,” he reveals.

“Sometimes it works quite well, but overall it is difficult. It is definitely a different driving style,” says Albon, for whom the situation is not easy, because: “As a team, we also always have to solve small problems again and again. […] Therefore, it is hard to distinguish what is down to oneself and what is down to the car.”

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According to Albon, both Williams drivers complain about the inconsistency of the FW48. Albon emphasizes that as a driver you are actually always “very open” to suggestions on how to drive faster.

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“If there is, for example, a reason why you are slow on a straight or something, tell me, then I adapt to it and think about how I can work around the problem. Sometimes it is very complicated, though,” he explains.

The problem: “You have been taught your whole life to drive fast. You know what fast is. And then suddenly a layer appears, a kind of gray box in the back of your mind that asks: ‘If I do this differently, will it affect the lap time in another way?'”

What Albon has been doing differently for a few weeks

“That is neither instinctive nor natural,” says Albon about the challenges of the new regulations. “So you can only – and that has been my approach for the last three or four races – fully concentrate on driving and let the technicians do their work,” he explains.

“If you think you have done a good job, then you have done a good job. And you should just leave it at that,” says Albon, who no longer wants to worry too much about the technical side in the future.

“So that is a pretty simple approach to a race weekend, but I actually feel that my performance has improved significantly in recent weekends because of it,” he emphasizes.

In fact, Albon finished ahead of teammate Sainz in the last two races before the summer break in Spa and Budapest and was also at least closer in qualifying than before. After the break, it will be seen whether Albon can continue this trend.

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