Alexander Albon explains the open collaboration with his Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz – why secrecy would only harm the team, currently languishing at the bottom of the Formula 1 standings
Alexander Albon spoke about his collaboration with his Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz and explained why both drivers openly share their set-up data rather than relying on mutual secrecy within their own garage.
The 2026 Formula 1 season has been a difficult one so far for the Grove-based outfit. With eleven points, the team currently sits ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, whilst Sainz and Albon are in 16th and 17th place respectively in the Drivers’ Championship with six and five points.
Despite the natural rivalry that exists between team-mates, Albon emphasises that the current performance shortfalls of the Williams car make close cooperation absolutely essential.
No secrets at Williams
During an appearance on the podcast *The Fast And The Curious* following the Dutch Grand Prix, Albon described in detail how drivers at other teams often withhold data to gain an advantage – but that such tactics would currently be counterproductive at Williams.
“What happens in some teams – and I know this – is that you find something on your car, but it’s nothing that the other car couldn’t find as well,” explains Albon. “That could be a line through a corner, the gear selection, a direction with the set-up, or the way we use the electronics system in the car.”
“So you might find something good, but then you simply don’t mention it. You keep it to yourself on your side of the garage.”
The only way out of this rut?
“Realistically speaking: That doesn’t apply to us – at least I don’t do that; maybe Carlos does, I don’t know,” he laughs. “But because of the limits of our car, we’re working on it together, in a way.”
“It’s almost as if we both have the same feedback on the same issues, and then we can split the cars up,” Albon continues. “One car might find that ‘Yes, that works’, so the other car follows suit. Sometimes it’s also a case of ‘Oh, this works and that works, so let’s take a bit of both.’ You just try things back and forth.”
“‘Oh, that’s the wrong way, so the other car has now gone the other way, so let’s do it this way.’ But you need to strike a balance.”
“I remember that sort of thing happening much more often when you have two rookie drivers and you’re, in a sense, fighting for the same [Position]. You can imagine that the elbows get stuck out a bit more then,” adds Albon.
