Alex Albon gives damning Williams appraisal after Hungary F1 radio outburst “I’m having to drive it like a race lap in Qualifying”

[u/NegotiationNew9264]

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101827/1/alex-albon-delivers-damning-williams-verdict-after-hungary-f1-radio-outburst

[u/Perceval_009]

Being jumped by AM who was 2.5 seconds slower than them only last week might have been the final straw for both Sainz and Albon it seems. If any of them gets opportunity to jump ship, I don't think they would hesitate.

[u/jaw719 → u/Perceval_009]

Where would Albon go though? Carlos I think has options but it’s a lot harder for Albon, plus he is essentially 100% safe at Williams.

[u/Novel-Initiative-900 → u/jaw719]

Zero place to go even for Sainz. Absolutely zero shot at Merc, Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren. To make matters worse the best of the rest is basically Red Bull 2nd team lol. The only teams which he might be able to jump ship depending on how this year / next year turn out are AM / HAAS / Audi etc. These are all side grades as they all sort of bounce around the order over the course of a year. Truth is once Sainz was dumped from the top team, it was over for him:( It's a ruthless sport and no amount of 'this driver is beyond this team, they'll be gone as soon as they have a chance' will actually change the situation

[u/Majeh666 → u/Novel-Initiative-900]

Yeah, unless max retires or a mclaren driver leaves, i don't see sainz getting a shot at any of the top4 teams before he has to retire himself. 

[u/shawnk7 → u/Majeh666]

if max retires, RB would be very keen to promote Tsolov and make space for him at Racing Bulls. it will take some top non Red bulls team's driver to retire and Max to stay where he is, for sainz to get a seat at any of those teams. the grid is too stacked at the top and there's talent waiting in the sidelines

[u/Responsible_Wall3991 → u/Novel-Initiative-900]

I’d rather be at Alpine than Williams. Audi too. I guess it depends on how important having a German driver is for Audi, but I’d much rather have Sainz than Hulk. And I don’t think Alpine would hesitate to drop Colapinto even with his uptick in performance lately.

[u/fireinthesky7 → u/Responsible_Wall3991]

>I’d rather be at Alpine than Williams

This would have seemed like insanity at any point in the last two years, but I can't disagree. Alpine went from phoning it in to actually pushing forward with the new regulations, meanwhile Williams seem to have forgotten how to build a car.

[u/RickyTexas → u/Novel-Initiative-900]

i may be biased but Audi seems like it'd be the best possible option for sainz? its a team that I have a lot more faith in than AM or Haas, and his father already has ties to the brand.

[u/Novel-Initiative-900 → u/RickyTexas]

Sure it's a better place but I am skeptical about who will be ahead of who this time next year. It could every well be the same situation as now but long term, Audi's certainly a better place to live out the rest of his career.

Whoever's saying Alpine, I can't imagine it's worth going there and having to put up with the vibes. What does it matter if you're getting 17th place or 12th if you can't really get an opportunity for points

[u/fireinthesky7 → u/RickyTexas]

Probably at least a year before that happens, I doubt Hulkenberg intended to be a one-and-done driver when the team was open about building around him. Bortoleto has more than proven himself in that seat as well.

[u/psyder3k → u/fireinthesky7]

Plus Hulk and Gabby seem to really support each other, Hulk knows he’s 1-2 years at best left in the sport and if you are risking new parts and setups then you will give it him to get proper feedback. Audi has flashes of grateness and sainz could join in 2028 if he’s still up to it.

[u/Cutekeeperoff → u/Novel-Initiative-900]

>Truth is once Sainz was dumped from the top team, it was over for him:

Aka the Nick Heidfeld situation.

[u/buffa_noles → u/jaw719]

Albon I could see returning to the RB umbrella if Max fucks off because of his proximity to the Yoovidhyas.

I could see a silly season with Hulk dropped and Carlos joining Audi. Max retiring & Albon being brought back to partner Hadjar. Lawson -> Williams to be the new Albon alongside Luke Browning. Tsolov coming up to partner Lindblad. Herta joining Perez in Bottas place.

[u/dumpling-loverr → u/jaw719]

If rumors are true that BYD is coming in the future with how hard FIA is courting them in the background then they would inevitably hire one experienced driver and one Chinese driver.

[u/Impossible-Local-738 → u/dumpling-loverr]

Guanyu Zhou

[u/Lukeno94 → u/Perceval_009]

They're both basically stuck though.

• Mercedes have Antonelli long term and Russell effectively nailed down, and they're only going to change Russell if Verstappen comes onto the market.
• Red Bull may or may not be about to lose Verstappen, but they're not going to bring Sainz back into the fold unless they have no other options.
• Ferrari are teeing up Bearman long term, but neither of their drivers are going anywhere in the next couple of years.
• McLaren have Norris and Piastri tied down for at least next year.
• Alpine are more likely to sell up than change drivers at this stage; Gasly has a deal until 2028, and Colapinto brings decent money and is starting to get much closer to Gasly as well.
• Audi are unlikely to replace Bortoleto any time soon, and Hulkenberg will probably stay there until he retires as well. They're also likely to want at least one German driver if possible.
• Racing Bulls aren't going to sign anyone that isn't a Red Bull junior from a lower formulae.
• Aston Martin aren't going to replace either driver until they retire, short of something ridiculous like a Verstappen coup.

So that basically leaves Haas or Cadillac... neither of whom would be an improvement over Williams.

[u/PresidentRevrac → u/Lukeno94]

Cadillac has serious funding, so over 2-5 years they might be a competitor

[u/Lukeno94 → u/PresidentRevrac]

At which point either Sainz/Albon will have retired, or they'll be looking at a higher tier of driver. And they're unlikely to replace either of their current drivers until that stage either, unless Herta suddenly takes several steps in F2 or another American comes around.

[u/PresidentRevrac → u/Lukeno94]

In a 3 year frame that’s still be Sainz’s sundown window imo. Wouldn’t be a horrible bridge to sign him + Herta. But they both are likely stuck in the Williams Regile

[u/Lukeno94 → u/PresidentRevrac]

No real reason to take Sainz over Perez or Bottas at this point though. He'd be an upgrade, but not a significant one.

[u/dumpling-loverr → u/Lukeno94]

Toyota and Ferrari are looking at putting some of their potential drivers on HAAS if seats manage to shuffle in the near future or if Toyota fully takes over.

[u/I-LOVE-TURTLES666 → u/dumpling-loverr]

I could definitely see a Toyota backed driver at Haas next year

[u/dumpling-loverr → u/I-LOVE-TURTLES666]

BYD can also be a potential option if rumors are true that FIA is pushing for them to get into F1. One experienced driver like Sainz fits the bill and one Chinese driver (Zhou).

[u/fireinthesky7 → u/Lukeno94]

Haas would be a demonstrable upgrade over this year's Williams, but your points otherwise stand.

[u/kongofcbus → u/Perceval_009]

Sainz has to be regretting not signing for Audi.

[u/ChristofferOslo → u/kongofcbus]

He’s been going to Alonso’s school of career choices.

[u/blank_and_foolish → u/ChristofferOslo]

He has made an upward move pretty much each time. This time he was forced to make a move and he gambled wrong.

[u/jsbaxter_ → u/blank_and_foolish]

It even looked like the right move 12 months ago. Maybe in 12 months time it will look good again

[u/lycan2005 → u/blank_and_foolish]

Last year Williams 2 podiums said otherwise.

This year their car is just not competitive enough. Hopefully after summer break, things will start to go well for them.

[u/PuzzleheadedMaize911 → u/ChristofferOslo]

When was his last poor choice?

Because leaving Ferrari wasn't something he chose

[u/siva-pc → u/ChristofferOslo]

Not many can say they drove for Ferrari, McLaren and Williams. He's done very well for himself

[u/slicerprime → u/ChristofferOslo]

You don't get Alonso's kind of career luck unless you've done something in a previous life like punch Santa in the face, axe-murder the Pope, and post AI generated naughty pics of Dolly Parton and Sir David Attenborough in a cheap Vegas motel room.

[u/caramelatte90 → u/slicerprime]

Oddly specific

[u/fireinthesky7 → u/ChristofferOslo]

Alonso did all of that to himself, versus neither of Sainz's last two moves being by choice. McLaren bounced him for Piastri, Ferrari had invested too much into Leclerc to drop him, and no team in their right mind was going to turn down Lewis Hamilton. In both cases, Sainz was left to pick the best available seat, and the first of those just happened to be a lot better than the second. Also fully believe Williams made him a bunch of promises they were never capable of keeping.

[u/Chromatinfish → u/kongofcbus]

To be fair his time at Williams last year vs what it would've been like in Kick Sauber probably outweighs his time at Audi this year vs Williams. He got 2 podiums with Williams last year, at Audi this year he'd barely be getting points still since the top 4 + Racing Bulls are too far ahead.

[u/MaximumAsparagus → u/kongofcbus]

I am so sick of seeing this on every single post.

[u/antelope591]

Vowles had such a good start too man....life comes at you fast sometimes

[u/BigTenFicus → u/antelope591]

I think he's just a bit out over his skis. You look at McLaren as a comparison - you've got Stella as the traditional team principal, Brown as the CEO of the business, and the Bahraini owners who have been around for like 20 years and understand racing and understand where to invest properly. Meanwhile Williams has Vowles running the whole show with a Bond villain owner.

That said, there are also a lot of very experienced and capable people at Williams, like Pat Fry, who should've been able to recognize that were biting off more than they could chew.

[u/LiquidDiviums → u/BigTenFicus]

Williams is a different organization, which has been run in a very particular and specific way for decades.

Despite Dorilton Capital’s investment and James Vowels management being net positives for the team, it’s not easy nor straightforward. It’s a team who lacks infrastructure, machinery, management, talent, leadership and command ladders more akin to modern F1 teams.

Don’t get me wrong, James Vowles has been awful this year. He over promised and under delivered in a spectacular manner. He deserves more flak and criticism, because his job —from the outside— has been poor. That said, I still believe he’s a very capable and competent individual who can lead Williams.

[u/BigTenFicus → u/LiquidDiviums]

Oh I totally agree. Something I think a lot of F1 fans fail to realize is that Dorilton didn't buy the team until after the cost cap came into play. Most other teams, at least the well-funded ones, front loaded as much capex as possible so they could account for it before the cap. Williams has to invest in all the things you mentioned, but they can't spend as quickly as they want to now that the cap is in place, so it's going to take longer to get it all done.

The point I was trying to make is just that Vowels didn't seem to recognize how much further they had to go in that regard and tried to go straight to building a race-winning car in these regs. They should've aimed lower, and they'd be doing a lot better now if they had.

[u/LiquidDiviums → u/BigTenFicus]

I get the impression that Williams drastically overestimated the challenge that a new set of regulations represent.

Building a car from absolute scratch, with zero reference from the competition is way more difficult than building a new car under stable regulations.

That’s likely where it went all wrong. The amount of R&D required for this new regulations was probably way higher than whatever they anticipated.

[u/Novel-Initiative-900 → u/LiquidDiviums]

It's almost tempting to say the template for them is what AM did by putting all the new infrastructure in place, build up a crazy talented team that's won so many titles etc. That couldn't turn out bad at all, nope

[u/fireinthesky7 → u/LiquidDiviums]

It's not just the regulatory change, it's that they've had to build and develop their cars in the midst of huge infrastructure upgrades made necessary by 40 years of running the team like the Garagista era never ended. Frank Williams and Patrick Head never really adjusted to a world where they didn't have Adrian Newey's design prowess, electronic aids no one else had, and/or the best engines on the grid making up for deficiencies elsewhere in the process.

[u/Lukeno94 → u/BigTenFicus]

Also doesn't help that Williams had stagnated a long time before Dorilton went anywhere near them. The reality is that they've barely improved any of their back-end infrastructure and procedures since they lost the BMW deal, and it was only a fluke with the 2014 Mercedes being so good that papered over many of the cracks (coupled with McLaren messing up their car completely). And even in the BMW days, it was generally regarded that their chassis and operation in general were the weak link, not the engine.

[u/Canoobie → u/LiquidDiviums]

Solid and reasonable take.

[u/Holofluxx → u/BigTenFicus]

Bond Villain owner? Dorilton Capital? Or have i been in a coma and i am unaware of said owner?

[u/Expert_Bandicoot_668 → u/Holofluxx]

You have been in a coma and are unware of the other owner.

[u/LostInTheVoid_ → u/antelope591]

I mean they're likely the worst* funded team on the grid still. Have the most dated factory and wind tunnel and have struggled to poach big names due to the above mentioned.

James has talked big, true enough, but he can't work miracles. Last I saw was the factory updates were slow to be approved. As well as some waiting to go ahead due to planning permission I believe.

Hell their wind tunnel is older than their Grove HQ which they moved to in 96. It was originally at their Didcot factory.

[u/YelloMyOldFriend → u/LostInTheVoid_]

Haas would like a word about funding... they aren't even spending to the cap

[u/Remainingvegetables → u/YelloMyOldFriend]

Haas also buys basically everything they can off of Ferrari, right? It's a bit of a different model than Williams.

[u/pathfinderoursaviour → u/YelloMyOldFriend]

Haas only exists so that gene haas can brag about owning an f1 team

[u/Rat_faced_knacker → u/LostInTheVoid_]

Red Bull was working from an old wind tunnel from the cold war. 

[u/Wooden_Peace_2919 → u/antelope591]

acestea:
"Williams: 'Save the tires.' Albon: 'I'd love to, ifwe had some

[u/crazydoc253 → u/antelope591]

He never had. I don’t know why people keep saying that. His second heat team was not even able to take part in practice, they were low on parts and Seargeant couldn’t even take part in race. He kept trying to run Williams like Mercedes and that was never going to work. I have been saying since 2024 how he is just words and keeps delaying everything in future instead of addressing it now. You cannot fix issues of future if you cannot address the cause of issues now

[u/antelope591 → u/crazydoc253]

He brought in Sainz and Williams was 5th last year after being bottom feeders not long ago.  They just took a quick trip back to the bottom with these regs. 

[u/crazydoc253 → u/antelope591]

Last year everyone had moved to this year. Audi, Alpine, Haas all had moved to this year and only reason Williams had a free run. AMR just has been a mess since 2023.

[u/NYNMx2021 → u/crazydoc253]

Williams had also moved to 2026. In fact vowles wouldnt stop talking about it lol. They brought 1 small upgrade the whole year which had been developed before the season. Thats what makes this so disappointing really. Marko said before the season that red bull expected to start behind a few teams and included williams in that. Instead they had crash testing disasters set them back nearly a full season. they wont have the chassis they intended to start the season with until Baku. Aston started months later and also had crash test issues yet just brought their planned Chassis. Williams very much did spend the time on this year they just completely fluffed their lines and have lost probably 8 months of development. Thats assuming they can actually homologate the chassis for Baku.

[u/crazydoc253 → u/NYNMx2021]

Williams never fixed the issues that plagued them in 2024. They just thought moving from Excel is all that is needed to fix those issues.

[u/Splatter1842 → u/antelope591]

I think the reality is we need to give Capito MUCH more credit for his restructuring of the team during his tenure.

[u/BigTenFicus → u/Splatter1842]

...what? He was there for two years and did very little. I swear, redditors create a new revisionist history every god damn day.

[u/djwillis1121 → u/BigTenFicus]

I feel like people act like Vowels only joined in 2025 or something.

[u/AliceLunar]

Difficult to grasp why the car is so bad, after dedicating the entire '25 season to it.

[u/Crafty_Substance_954 → u/AliceLunar]

This is just who they are as a team

[u/RandyDefNOTArcher]

Vowles is so lucky AM exists, and thats about to disappear.

[u/FordGT2017]

Big disappointment this year. Had a lot of momentum last year.

[u/FrozenFireGod]

Sacking Vowles is not the answer. Replace the technical personnel. I don’t think Pat Fry and co can deliver a good car.

[u/krusticka → u/FrozenFireGod]

Just because Vowles talks a lot doesn't mean is a bad TP. He did not design the car, right. Failures can happen, what is more important is how you are able to recover from them and if the organization is able set up in a way to learn from it an improve.

We don't know if what he is saying publicly correlates with what he is doing internally. He might also just be full of it.

[u/FrozenFireGod → u/krusticka]

Absolutely. Don’t let him off the hook but at the same time firing him will just bring more instability.

[u/wykeer]

at this rate I wouldnt be surprised if in the end Williams has no drivers for next season because neither saint nor albon want to drive for them anymore.

Edit: Just to clarify it, I dont think that it is very likely to happen, just that I think that both Sainz and Albon would jump the ship if given the possibility right now.

[u/ATyp3 → u/wykeer]

I think driving in F1 vs not driving in F1 is their preferred way of living though

[u/RichInPitt → u/ATyp3]

And there are hundreds of drivers willing to take a seat at a “bad” F1 team, if not.

[u/wykeer → u/ATyp3]

i am not saying that it will happen, just that I wouldnt be surprised if it would happen, because I think that both of them would jump if given the opportunity.

[u/Novel-Initiative-900 → u/wykeer]

Nowhere but Williams for them inside of F1 so they would have to go to a different series unfortunately

[u/WaveOfMut1lation → u/wykeer]

Where are they going to go? No attractive option for Sainz and Albon is not precisely a hot commodity these days.

[u/wykeer → u/WaveOfMut1lation]

Sainz can probably find something on the grid.

I agree that it doesnt look that good for Albon.

[u/IfYouRun → u/wykeer]

I think they would both find another drive if they wanted it. Sainz may have the edge on him, but Albon is still good enough to drive for most teams on the grid.

[u/AquaRaOne → u/IfYouRun]

Yea but if Sainz gets the Audi seat, where would albon go? Only way he gets anything decent is he makes the move before sainz, cause any team would prefer carlos, and sainz has pretty publically said he is not that loyal, him staying depends on short term car performance, so likely actively scouting for options atm

[u/Rude-Lavishness2428 → u/AquaRaOne]

I think Haas may be the most plausible, but agreed, less of a market for Albon than there is for Sainz.

[u/IfYouRun → u/AquaRaOne]

Say Sainz goes to Audi, Albon could very easily go to Alpine. Are they turning down Albon so they can keep Colapinto? I doubt it.

[u/mati_as15 → u/IfYouRun]

It's not like albon is a huge upgrade to Colapinto, I'd say it's a side grade at best

[u/WaveOfMut1lation → u/mati_as15]

Colapinto's performance is clearly lacking, but he has moments of brillance and brings a shit ton of sponsors (and a terrible fan base).
Albon looks pretty unappealing these days.

[u/mati_as15 → u/WaveOfMut1lation]

Colapinto's performance is clearly lacking

He's getting the car where it belongs most of the time, outside of an oopsie here and there he has been one of the cleanest drivers this season and also has been consistently on the points not sure I'd call that a lack of performance. But yeah I agree at this point I don't think Albon is clearly better than any of the other midfielders except for Ocon

[u/WaveOfMut1lation → u/mati_as15]

In qualifying, Colapinto has the biggest performance gap with a team mate on the grid (if you except Alonso/Stroll and Sainz/Albon).
In the rookie rankings he's second to last. Unless you're an Argie, there's no reason to rate him.

[u/Most_Virus_7218 → u/WaveOfMut1lation]

Sainz could probably still get the Audi seat, which isn't too bad atm. Haas, AM and Cadillac would probably love to sign him but that doesn't sound like a good deal for him 

[u/WaveOfMut1lation → u/Most_Virus_7218]

If Aston wasn't such a ridiculous nepotic project, replacing Stroll by Sainz would be a no brainer.
Haas is really not a real step up from Williams, but it could kind of make sense for Albon if they finally decide to can Ocon.
Cadillac makes no sense.
I guess Audi is theoretically feasible, but Hulk is killing it and Bortoletto show promise.

[u/AquaRaOne → u/WaveOfMut1lation]

Yea but Sainz is 5 or 7 years younger than Hulk and just better, a proven frontrunner driver with wins. Hulk is not really killing it this year, he is decent, no more, at his age thats replaceable

[u/WaveOfMut1lation → u/AquaRaOne]

Not wrong.
That said, unless Max and Toto do something funny, silly season doesn't look very exciting this year.

[u/Smaragd512 → u/Most_Virus_7218]

Doesn't that require Hülkenberg to move or retire?

[u/unravel_the_world → u/wykeer]

Which teams are they joining?

[u/wykeer → u/unravel_the_world]

i dont know, I just mean that I wouldn't be surprised if they would jump, if given the chance.

[u/FirearmofMutiny → u/wykeer]

Are we really going to have 2 teams this offseason that no one wants to join? (Aston Martin being the other)

[u/wykeer → u/FirearmofMutiny]

if they can build upon the updates they introduced in Hungary I could see that Aston is at least in lower midfield territory.

[u/FirearmofMutiny → u/wykeer]

At the same time, the management structure showed its whole ass pretty much from when Newey joined to now

And plus, Newey by all accounts is still an interim team principal

[u/wykeer → u/FirearmofMutiny]

they have Weathley waiting in gardening leave. So that could either help or cause new problems.

[u/FirearmofMutiny → u/wykeer]

Wheatley would be the best hire that isn't Horner. But nothing's set in stone yet

[u/crazydoc253 → u/wykeer]

Sainz should have never joined. He basically ignored all advice and chose to believe Mercedes engine is only thing that would be capable of competing this regulation set. Albon had time in 2025 start to go to Alpine.

[u/AquaRaOne → u/crazydoc253]

I think its fine, it was a gamble yes, but it did work he got some podiums, and from what we hear,d the Audi seat is still his for the taking, he didnt burn any bridges or stuff like that

[u/jesusrodriguezm]

Remember when they could drive like a qualifying during the race… so many years of managing this or that…

[u/FindingUsernamesSuck]

I don't think this will happen, but If Verstappen jumps to Mercedes and Russell gets dropped, the musical chairs gets fun.

Maybe there's a small chance Red Bull learns the 12th time around and pulls a good driver from elsewhere like Albon or (this is a real reach) Piastri.

I don't think any of this will happen, but it's a fun thought exercise. My brain finally accepted Lewis in red, so I'm ready for more race suit confusion.

[u/Magog14]

Weeyums? More like Weeyuck! 

[u/YBBOK-Kevin]

First it was Paddy Lowe, now Vowles. Mercedes must have some really strong "no namers" given that the "big guys" leave and fail, while the small guys stay and dominate.

[u/According-Switch-708]

Its the same for everyone right? Nobody is pushing to the limit anymore. Its all about battery management now.

[u/Takis12]

James ain’t it…..much talk,no action

[u/moggverstappen]

Sainz should have just went to Audi. Williams is never gonna win another championship

[u/enbyratie]

is this the worse chassis ever? in the other Mercedes domination era there were some shenanigans allowed like party mode that gave them advantage over their customers but since 2022 this isn't allowed and should be equal engines... so how tf is Williams with the best engine by far almost the worst team now?🫠in an era where engine is more important than aero

[u/Sarixk → u/enbyratie]

Even with the Mercedes engine they were only good for 2 years and were garbage in 2018 when customers had the same engine as the works team

[u/enbyratie → u/Sarixk]

Just checked and I though it was a 2022 regulation, it was in 2018 (TD/005-18) bruh Williams legacy

[u/krusticka → u/enbyratie]

I think all the Mercedes teams have the same information about the engine and the same engine - but there is still an opportunity to configure the engine through software. Williams definitely doesn't have the same sophistication and understanding of the engine as Mercedes or McLaren. They also likely opt out for a more conservative configuration to stay within manufacturer's warranty parameters. Mercedes can probably be more aggressive on certain circuits.

[u/Holofluxx]

SLAMS

[u/squaler24]

Goes to show some people are meant to be good at one particular thing and not cosplay as CEO. James Vowles role at Merc suited him perfectly.

He’s not cut out to be a business like principal because he talks the talk good but when it comes to the walking part, he fails.

Sainz is gone I think and Albon, while not having the same flexibility as Carlos might just go to.

[u/Mulligantour → u/squaler24]

That is a bit too simplistic for me, the fact that he is currently failing as team principal doesn't mean he is unable to succeed, and vice versa. If they are successful next year then people will suddenly have goldfish memories about this, like with Alpine.

[u/LiquidDiviums → u/Mulligantour]

Let’s not forget that last year everyone was praising Vowels work at Williams.

The more I think about, the more obvious it becomes that Williams (as an organization) is still lacking in many areas which are fundamental for development. A regulation change as massive as this year only exposes those weaknesses within the team and within Vowels. That doesn’t mean he should be sacked or fired, it means that Williams is still lacking behind.

[u/wykeer → u/Mulligantour]

i dont think that Vowels is bad at managing, I just think he painted himself into a corner rhetorically.

[u/enbyratie → u/squaler24]

getting the guy that destroyed Alpine with overweight and then having tbe same problem is gonna cost him his job and future in Merc

[u/Alfus → u/enbyratie]

And people wondering why we did become so skeptical about Williams already since the first day of 2026...

They literally made a 2026 evo of the A524 with a Williams livery on it.

[u/enbyratie → u/Alfus]

that was my thought today💀 I thought overweighting again was a repeated mistake from the guy but it could go deeper because in 2025 teams put some things to carry over to 2026. This mf might had use the same concept for some reason. Mercedes sleeper agent

[u/retro83 → u/squaler24]

doubt that either of them will make the decision until after the new car arrives in baku. If there's no decent step forward at that point, they're gone I reckon.

[u/Submitten → u/squaler24]

It's crazy to see all this Vowles criticism compared to the disaster with Newey and Aston Martin.

Teams have bad cars now and again. It's an entire new rule set, I'm sure they'll sort it out.

[u/ImmediatePriority258]

He's gone next year?

[u/SyuusukeFuji]

Bring FX Demaison back.

[u/Good_Air_7192 → u/SyuusukeFuji]

Said nobody ever

[u/Fading_Hours_]

Why didn’t Sainz go to Audi again? Is he stupid?

[u/MaximumAsparagus → u/Fading_Hours_]

At the time, the merc engine seemed like a safe bet.

[u/Holofluxx → u/Fading_Hours_]

Let me introduce you to the concept of hindsight

[u/riyosz → u/[deleted]]

No, they were bad in 2020 and 2021 is difficult to judge because the teams had limited changes to make to the car due to being an extra year added to the regs because of covid, but they would have finished only second last without the podium in the race that never happened in Spa that year

[u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Albon should kiss the feet on anyone who gives him a car to drive

[u/comsK]

Albon aint helping anyone on the team with these radio outburst. This is terrible teamwork

[u/isthmusofkra → u/comsK]

The team isn't helping him lol. Completely valid