Williams’ Alex Albon qualified P12 for the F1 Austrian GP. While he missed out on Q3, the 29-year-old felt proud of what he achieved and believed his car had what it takes to fight for points in the race.
Happy with the execution
Albon collected some damage during his Austrian GP Q1 test run, and the rear of the car was taped to make it drivable. Albon managed to advance to Q2, whereas his teammate Carlos Sainz could only muster 19th, his third Q1 exit in a row.
“We collected some damage on the floor during my test lap in Q1. Basically, we had to do a fantastic job, taped up as much as we could [on] the rear of the car. Our Q2 lap, new tyre run, got red flagged, so we had to avoid that.
“So we ended up doing a Q2 used tyre, damaged car run and we still qualified for P12. All in all, [I’m] actually pretty happy with that. There’s a large chunk of points to point off, so let’s say [the car is] 99% Q3 worthy.”
Albon explained that the Austrian GP weekend had been tough for the team, as they struggled with low fuel pace, especially when running on the soft tyres. The damage to his FW47 also prevented the team from achieving more.
“It’s been a tough weekend so far. We’ve been struggling a lot with the low fuel pace, especially on the soft tyre. We got there in a much better window in Q1, I think you saw some of the glimpses of the pace.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t replicate the same lap times because we had the damage. But still, really happy with the execution of Q2.”
Better on the harder compound
Albon is confident in the car’s competitiveness on the long runs. He argued that the other midfield teams were in a better place thanks to their upgrades. Nonetheless, Albon said his race pace would be strong in the Austrian GP.
“Our low fuel has been a little bit trickier these last few races. I think partly because some of the midfield teams have obviously brought upgrades and maybe put themselves in a better place, but our race pace is still holding strong, it’s not terrible.”
Albon explained that after trying out the harder compound during practice, the car felt much better.
“We saw on Friday as well, we liked the harder compound tyres for some reason. We’re still trying to figure that one out. But obviously, that just means when we do put the harder compound tyres in the race, the car feels better.”
Albon eyes a strong finish
Albon hoped that the Austrian GP would present a good race and a productive outing for Williams. The DRS train is not one of his concerns, as there would be flexibility on the strategy.
“If there is a DRS train, you can get away from it. There’s flexibility tomorrow, I hope it will create some good racing and we can try and have a good result.“
The two-time podium-sitter mentioned Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Pierre Gasly as his main rivals in the Austrian GP. He expected his peers to be competitive and hoped the team had what it took to fight for places.
“Liam [Lawson], Gabriel [Bortoleto], [and] Pierre [Gasly], they’re all in our window. We have a better pace than the RBs [Racing Bulls], at least on Friday.
“The question is if we can actually get past everyone, that’s all. I’m optimistic, I think we can score some points.”
