This time last year, Alex Albon dragged his royal blue Williams Formula 1 car two laps behind the rest of the field in the heart of Northern Italy. A faulty pit stop and wheel nut issue dashed any dreams for a points-paying finishing position, as the Thai-British driver retired to the garages.
During yesterday’s virtual safety car-riddled Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, however, Albon had a different outcome. He crossed the checkered flag in fifth. Just shy of a podium, Albon’s on-track tango with two Rosso Corsa machines in Ferrari’s capital is a welcome turn of pace for the back-of-the-pack team. It also tells a story Albon has been trying to convince F1 fans of all along: Williams’ future is bright.
When the then-25-year-old joined Williams for the 2022 season, the seat that allowed Albon to remain in the sport after Red Bull dropped him came with some caveats—namely, driving under a team emblem that wouldn’t be winning races anytime soon. But Albon and others at Williams seemed to see something far off in the distance that no one else could.
Williams Grand Prix Engineering was born in 1978 and had success early on, winning its first race the following year at home in England. By the turn of the decade, both a World Drivers’ and a World Constructors’ Championship title sat in the team’s headquarters. Williams did it again in 1992, thanks to Nigel Mansell, and again in 1993 with Alain Prost. The ‘90s held success for the team with five team titles and four driver championship trophies, marred by Ayrton Senna’s death in a Williams car while competing in Imola in 1994.
On Sunday, Albon tested his driving prowess against the best of the best: Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished in a respective fourth and sixth place. As the No. 23 Williams went wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc’s Ferrari, it was a poetic reminder of the rivalry that caused Williams to drop off in the early 2000s. Since the start of the century, the team has been chasing a return to championship form that has seemed increasingly unlikely. That is, until now.
When Carlos Sainz left Ferrari at the end of 2024 to make room for Hamilton, Williams was regarded as a poor, laughable choice. After all, the Spaniard had been the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in 2023. He ranked fifth in last year’s driver standings on the heels of this season’s championship leader, Oscar Piastri, and fought for the constructors’ title alongside then-teammate Leclerc.
Williams, in comparison, had finished ninth in 2024 and failed to complete 20 out of 24 races last year, largely due to crashes and the Excel Spreadsheet From Hell. Albon’s performance in Imola in 2024, paired with then-teammate Logan Sargeant’s qualifying DNF, represented just one stroke of bad luck in a series of unfortunate race weekends that plagued the British team in recent history.
Sainz’s signing with Williams buoyed a fresh surge of energy that team principal James Vowles brought in 2023. Armed with two talented drivers, a clear vision forward, and an injection of capital, Williams hasn’t looked as laughable after starting the 2025 season with 10 top-10 finishes.
“The journey will take time, but I am confident we are building the right team to move forward and achieve great things in the years to come,” Albon said in May after extending his contract.
While the team is inching rather than speeding toward catching the McLarens and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull up front—Albon’s place among the top five on Sunday still had him trailing nearly 20 seconds behind race leader and winner Verstappen. Perhaps, Williams’ anticipation of a “long-term” podium project might be fast-tracked—though, it could also be too soon to tell. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix gave Albon a taste before yanking the third-place trophy away when he failed to overtake both Ferraris and was pushed into the gravel by Leclerc before claiming the position back.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? On the pure race [outlook] we were fighting for P3, P4,” Albon said post-race. “Back-to-back P5s and [we’re] coming away today a bit disappointed, which is a bit strange to say…I was kind of licking my lips! I thought I could even get Oscar up in front as well.”
Sainz finished in eighth and sits in 11th in the standings, 19 points behind Albon as he adapts to the new car.
It is more of a matter of when, rather than if, Williams scores its first podium in five years. What commentators are calling an inevitability, Albon already knew to be true a few years ago. “I’m ready. I’m ready to win races, to fight for a championship,” Albon said at the end of the 2023 F1 season.
Sainz, the anticipated superstar tasked with bringing a back-of-the-grid team to title-contending status, might not be the one holding the trophy.
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Olivia Hicks is a Brooklyn-based sports and environmental journalist specializing in the business, politics and culture behind Formula 1 for NPR and Motorsport.com. Over a race weekend, you can find her reporting live for The Independent. She is The Drive’s F1 correspondent for the 2025 season.
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