Albon says new car rules reward aggressive drivers ahead of Bahrain GP in Sepang

Alexander Albon said the new car regulations favour drivers with a more aggressive style while speaking ahead of the Bahrain GP, to be held in Sepang, Malaysia this weekend; he said that is one reason championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has excelled so far, despite it being just his second year in the sport.

“The cars themselves are a lot smaller. Basically, I think a lot of the drivers push entries, so if you think famously, someone like Lewis (Hamilton) and I think Kimi does a very similar thing. They are being rewarded because the rear tyres are not as strong this year as they were in previous years, relative to the front tyres,” explained Albon.

“A lot of the deployment is down to the drivers, the way the driver downshifts and upshifts, also the way the driver brakes. The biggest factor is how the driver uses the throttle. At first, when it was changed, it was very difficult to understand. It was very against my personal driving style. And so, over time — we are in October now — I have only just started to feel natural driving a car, which is a lot longer than it takes,” added the Thai-British driver.

Williams, who finished fifth in 2025, have struggled in the current campaign and sit ninth in the standings, Albon said. “All the simulator work that we’re doing behind the scenes is now focused on next year. And generally, the language which the whole team speaks is more about next year’s car. So sometimes you need to take one step back in many ways or hold some of the development back to make sure that you make a bigger step later on,” said Albon.

The Bahrain GP is scheduled to take place in Sepang, Malaysia this weekend, and Williams say their development emphasis is on next year’s car while work continues in the simulator.