{"id":43015,"date":"2026-08-18T21:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=43015"},"modified":"2026-08-18T21:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:50:15","slug":"albon-extends-williams-stay-until-2027","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/albon-extends-williams-stay-until-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Albon extends Williams stay until 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Williams confirmed that Albon has committed to the Grove-based outfit for another season despite a difficult 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Albon joined Williams in 2022 after spending a year as a reserve driver for Red Bull and has since become a central figure in the team&#8217;s efforts to return to the front of the grid. The project delivered significant progress last year when Williams finished fifth in the Constructors&#8217; Championship.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While results have been more challenging this season, Albon said the team&#8217;s long-term progress convinced him to continue the journey. &#8220;Since joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team in 2022, the transformation this team has made is difficult to put into words,&#8221; Albon said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One tough year doesn&#8217;t tell the full picture, and it only gives me more motivation to keep building and pushing together with the factory and our fans to achieve great things. &#8220;Our story is not over yet, so my full focus now is on doing whatever it takes to get us back up the grid.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Williams Team Principal James Vowles welcomed the decision, describing Albon as a key figure in the team&#8217;s rebuilding process. &#8220;I am delighted that Alex and Atlassian Williams F1 Team are continuing our extraordinary journey together,&#8221; Vowles said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Alex has been a leader of this transformation project since day one, and we have plenty of unfinished business that we are determined to achieve.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Vowles said retaining Albon reflects the confidence both parties have in the team&#8217;s future direction. &#8220;Alex is one of the best drivers on the grid and knows better than anyone the enormous improvements we have made in recent years,&#8221; Vowles said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The contract extension follows a landmark year for Albon. Earlier this season, Albon became the driver with the most race starts for Williams when the Thai driver made a 96th appearance for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix, surpassing former record holder Nigel Mansell.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;F1\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43017,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-43015","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Williams Driver Alex Albon will remain with the Formula One team until at least the end of the 2027 season, extending a partnership that has become the longest by any driver in the team's history.","published_date":"","news_description":"Williams Driver Alex Albon will remain with the Formula One team until at least the end of the 2027 season, extending a partnership that has become the longest by any driver in the team's history.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43018,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43015\/revisions\/43018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=43015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}