Albon gives his take on ‘interesting’ driver market situation amid Sainz’s links to Williams

Alex Albon has made it clear that he is focused on “doing my own job” as speculation continues over who will partner him at Williams next season, but described the situation as “interesting” given “a lot of drivers” are yet to confirm their futures.

While Albon recently committed to a new multi-year deal with the Grove operation, the identity of his team mate remains unknown, with team boss James Vowles recently admitting he “needs more” from incumbent Logan Sargeant if the American wants any chance of retaining his spot.

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Meanwhile, Vowles publicly confirmed his interest in Sainz at the Canadian Grand Prix, describing the outgoing Ferrari driver – who is being replaced by Lewis Hamilton at the Scuderia for 2025 – as his “number one target” to race alongside Albon.

Heading into his home race weekend in Spain, Sainz commented that he will make a decision “very soon”, with the three-time Grand Prix winner also being linked to Kick Sauber, who will become Audi’s works team from the 2026 season.

Asked how much of an input he has in the situation, and what a driver such as Sainz would bring to Williams, Albon said: “I wouldn’t say I’m so involved. We talk about it, definitely, but I’m not there to say who I want to be as a team mate.

“It’s interesting. Obviously there’s a lot of drivers out there. On my side it’s just really about doing my own job. You guys [the media] talk about it more than me!”

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Sargeant, on the other hand, vowed to keep his head down amid the driver market rumours and pinned his hopes on updates that should bring the two Williams machines “more inline” after their chassis-related dramas early in the season.

“I mean, the update is just that I’m going to keep doing my best, keep chipping away at it, keep trying to find more and more performance,” he said of his future. “It’s all right there. I think as the cars come more inline it’ll definitely give me a better chance going forward.”

As for what can be achieved at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and across the upcoming triple-header, Albon expressed hope that Williams can get some more points on the board and build momentum.

“I feel like it was an opportunity missed in Canada,” said Albon, who was challenging for points before a race-ending clash with Sainz. “I felt like it was one of those weekends where we were just always on pace at the right times throughout the weekend.

“Logan and myself, we were generally just hovering around that points area. The race was mixed, which kind of suits us, we tend to enjoy those chaotic kind of races, and unfortunately we just fell short with the incident.

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“But [there’s] a lot to be proud of, it shows as well that we’re making a positive step forward with the car. Most of that has just been about taking the weight out of it, but it shows that it’s working.

“Let’s see… We don’t have any upgrades this weekend, I think there’s a few teams down the grid that do, so it’ll be interesting to see where we play out.”