Vowles feels ‘personal responsibility’ to give Albon winning car

Williams team principal James Vowles says he feels a “personal responsibility” to provide Alex Albon with a championship-winning car in recognition of the latter’s allegiance to the British outfit.

Williams announced on Wednesday that Albon had signed a new multi-year contract with the team, extending their partnership into and beyond 2026, when F1 will introduce its next-generation machines.

Vowles had previously expressed his desire to field a stable lineup of drivers in 2025 and 2026 to facilitate the transition to Grand Prix racing’s new regulations.

Albon, who has led Williams’ resurgence efforts since 2022, is the first driver to commit to the Grove-based squad’s future.

And Vowles insists he will go the extra mile to ensure his team produces a car worthy of the Anglo-Thai driver’s talent and loyalty.

• Read also: Albon signs multi-year contract extension with Williams

“I want to produce you a championship-winning car,” Vowles told Albon in a one-on-one chat that followed Wednesday’s contract announcement between the two parties.

“This team wants to produce that as well. That’s a serious goal. It sounds fluffy, but it’s a serious goal. What’s more is I feel a personal responsibility towards you.

“You have a peak in your career. You’ll be in it for a while, but you have a peak in it. You’re coming into it. That’s as simple as that.

“My responsibility is, whilst you’re there, we have to give you the best equipment possible.

“That’s what I like about this multi-year journey. It’s because it’s not about the now anymore. It’s about how do we put you on our shoulders, walk with pride, and give you every opportunity.

“Doing this is a huge vote of confidence for the team. You saw the reaction downstairs. That’s good. That’s a better reaction than when I joined!”

Albon readily acknowledged that he had felt the love. However, the 28-year-old hopes that his extended commitment to Williams future will boost the team’s motivation.

“I definitely can see that,” Albon said, responding to Vowles comment. “I felt like we talked about it. I know we’ve really only put pen to paper not so long ago.

“In the process, it’s been about trying to use this as a shift to everyone, to try to motivate everyone, and to really realize that I’m hoping.

“The fact that I believe in this team, to everyone at the factory, that’s a reason in itself to realize that we all can do this.

“I feel like I’m hoping I can give that reassurance in some ways to everyone to know that I believe this journey, so you should too.”

Queried by Vowles on the reasons underlying his continued commitment, Albon put it simply: “I believe in the journey”.

“That’s where it’s all come down to,” he added. “I think the openness and the honesty of where we are, even in the present, we weren’t ever trying to say it was better than it was, but there was always an action.

“It was the willingness of the people that were in the factory who wanted the change. You had this feeling that we’re always going in the right direction.

“For the last year and a half, two years now, we’ve all been looking at the same kind of forward trajectory.

“I feel like the foundations of this team have improved so much, and we are forever evolving that.

“I feel like there’s clearly so much room now for us to grow, where I didn’t feel necessarily that was the case when I first joined.”

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter