Albon admits Williams are "on the back foot" as rivals pull away in development race

Alex Albon has admitted Williams are struggling to keep pace with their midfield rivals after falling behind in the 2026 development battle, with the Thai driver describing the team's campaign as one spent "on the back foot."

Ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Albon reflected on a difficult run of form that has seen Williams fail to score points since Monaco. While acknowledging that the FW48 has lacked the outright pace to challenge its closest competitors, he stressed that the issue is not down to a single weakness.

"Just a bit of everything, really. I think there's not one specific trend that we've seen in the last two races. More than anything, other teams bring upgrades.

"We had a smaller one in Silverstone. It worked, but you also have to be honest: the gap to the other midfield cars is at such a point that the upgrades we've got on the car are bringing performance, but not enough to fight with them."

Although Williams introduced an update package at Silverstone, Albon said its performance matched the team's expectations, even if it was not enough to significantly improve its competitiveness.

"No, I think they behaved as we expected. Obviously, we always want more because you want to close the gap, but actually it pretty much did what it said."

Despite the team's recent struggles, Albon insisted he remains confident in Williams' long-term direction. He explained that the team's difficulties are largely the result of beginning its development programme later than its direct rivals, leaving it playing catch-up throughout the season.

"No. We're just behind in terms of where we started the year. We started our updates late. We must have brought fewer upgrades than the other teams around us, so it's just going through that phase."

The 30-year-old described Williams as a team undergoing significant change behind the scenes, with major restructuring efforts underway at its Grove headquarters. While those changes are designed to strengthen the team in the future, he admitted they have slowed progress in the short term.

"We are in a rebuilding phase. We have a lot to do. There are a lot of changes happening at the factory as well, and in many ways it's frustrating, but it's patience."

"There's a lot going on behind the scenes, and all for the good, but at the same time, unfortunately, it does feel like some of the upgrades and the processes take a little bit longer."

Williams is not standing still, however, with another upgrade package already scheduled for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this season. Whether that will be enough to move the team back into contention in the tightly contested midfield remains to be seen.

"In the meantime, we do have an upgrade for Baku. Whether or not that puts us fighting with the midfield, we'll see, but it's coming."

Looking back on the first half of the season, Albon summed up Williams' campaign with a frank assessment: "It just feels like this whole year so far has been a little bit on the back foot."