Albon hails Vowles’ new contract as ‘great vote of confidence for all of us’ at Williams

Alex Albon has hailed James Vowles’ new contract with Williams as a “great vote of confidence for all of us”, with the Thai driver praising the Team Principal for being a “good leader”.

It was confirmed in the days after the Canadian Grand Prix that Vowles – who first joined the squad from Mercedes at the start of 2023 – had agreed a new long-term deal, meaning that he will remain in charge as the squad continue their mission of returning to winning ways.

When asked ahead of this weekend’s race in Austria about the importance of Vowles’ new contract, Albon responded: “I think it's a great vote of confidence for all of us.

“I feel like James has clearly spearheaded the team in a good direction, the right direction, and for myself, the team, it's a great sign of things to come and shows trust and confidence from the board. It makes the future brighter for the team.”

Albon went on to praise Vowles’ leadership skills as he reflected on how the Briton has most greatly impacted the team since his arrival.

“I would say the biggest impact is that he is direct, he's honest and he's very simply just a good leader,” Albon conceded. “He tells us the direction and we follow.”

Upon joining Williams in 2023, Vowles set his focus on transforming the team’s fortunes – and things definitely look to have improved in recent times, with the 2025 campaign marking the outfit’s strongest start to a season since 2016.

Currently sitting fifth in the Teams’ Championship, the 55 points achieved collectively by Albon and Carlos Sainz so far is more than the number of points the squad scored across the previous three seasons combined.

Pushed on whether there might be the chance for a podium during this campaign, Albon said: “We have a better chance than previous years, if the time ever comes to get a podium.

“I don't think we can get a podium on pure pace, but it does feel like the podium chances often happen to the top midfield team of that weekend, and we're in that position quite often.

“There haven’t been many crazy races this year where it's been wet-dry-wet-dry, I think maybe Australia and Miami. I wouldn't say I expect a podium this year but, if it happens, it happens.”

For now the focus is on the weekend ahead at the Red Bull Ring, a circuit that Albon is “optimistic” about in terms of whether it might suit the FW47.

“To be honest, Canada should have suited us too and it looked like it was, we just fell a bit short come Saturday and Sunday,” the 29-year-old conceded.

“The vibes are still strong. I think this weekend does suit our car, Silverstone more so, but we're seeing now the other teams with their upgrades – they're definitely catching up.”