Alex Albon: Williams' task is to hold on to fifth place.

      In previous years Alex Albon has generally performed well at Zandvoort, especially in qualifying: in 2023 he started from fourth position, and in 2024 he also made it into the final session, but was later disqualified, although that's another story.

      According to him, it’s not that the Dutch track necessarily suits the Williams, but when asked what explains those results the team has no concrete answer.

      Alex Albon: "We find this track interesting, and although it's not necessarily true that it suits our car, it seems that every year we race here things go well for us. But there is still no answer as to why. I suppose the wind is usually blowing in the same direction here, and that also has a positive effect on the behaviour of our car. On the other hand, the weather at Zandvoort is always changeable, and we manage to act correctly in such conditions, to switch from slicks to wet tyres and back at the right time. That helps too, but I also think that the advantage here goes to those who drive confidently. We race on this very narrow track immediately after the summer break, when everyone is a bit out of shape, but if you manage to quickly pick up the required speed and get into a rhythm, that gives you a chance to perform well that weekend."

      Speaking about the second half of the season overall, our goal is clear: we need to try to hold on to fifth place in the Constructors' Championship. I think that's possible, although it's clear that in terms of pure pace our rivals are no worse than us, and may even be superior. I don't think the picture will be like that every weekend — it will change from race to race — but we will have difficult tasks to solve.

      Haas, in particular, has made great progress and can also catch up with us. In general, in the remaining races of the season we intend to be more aggressive.

      At one point in his career Albon had a break from Formula 1: in 2021 he served as Red Bull's reserve driver and competed in the DTM series at the same time. Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas will also return to the championship after missing a season, and Alex thinks they're lucky because the technical regulations will change in 2026.

      "I would say one of the positives for me (in 2022) was the fact that the regulations were changing. I think it will be the same for Sergio and Valtteri," the Williams driver says. "Since no one will be able to fully apply the experience gained in previous years, that will to some extent even out the chances. I don't know what efforts Pérez and Bottas made to keep in shape, whether they had the opportunity to drive racing cars, but I remember that when I missed a season I worked on Pirelli tyre tests, I worked on the simulator, and all of that definitely helped. I think the situation now is somewhat different, because both of them have a lot more experience, and they probably don't need to work on themselves as much. In the year I missed, it was important for me to keep learning and try to prepare as well as possible for the move to Williams. It's unlikely that professionals as experienced as Valtteri and Sergio lost much, so they will be able to get back up to speed fairly quickly."