The F1 Monaco GP Qualifying session was a rollercoaster for Williams and both of their drivers. Alex Albon started the sessions with a very strong qualifying pace, especially in Q2 where he was a superb P3 ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.
However, Q3 saw the Thai driver end the session in 10th, over half a second slower than his Q2 best, leaving him frustrated over the lost opportunity.
Frustrating session for Alex Albon at the F1 Monaco GP
Speaking after the session, Albon admitted that the team doesn’t understand the drop in pace between the sessions. He also deemed it “the most frustrating qualifying of the season”.
“Disappointing, very frustrating qualifying, maybe the most frustrating qualifying of the season so far. I think I just struggled with the tyres, and I never really found something to work. I think in Q2 we did, and we were looking good, and then in Q3 we lost it again.I don’t really understand.”
Looking back at the drop in performance that he experienced in Q3 at the Monaco GP, Albon lamented the lost opportunity for a P6, which would have turned into 5th with Hamilton’s grid penalty. The Thai’s Q2 best was 0.191s quicker than Hadjar’s Q3 time.
“My lap in Q2, I think the lap time of it was P6 in Q3, so at least P6. But we cannot say ifs and buts because in the end, we don’t understand why.
“As a team, we need to do a better job to make sure we get the same feeling in Q2 and on every lap. But we weren’t able to do it today, and that’s where we lost out.
“I think our car was quicker than the RBs and the Haas’s today. But we didn’t understand the tyres and that’s what happened.”
Alex Albon says Williams didn’t understand the tyres in F1 Monaco GP qualifying
Tyre issues plagued Albon and the Williams camp as they tried to use the mediums in Q2 due to the lack of longevity of the soft tyre. He admitted that none of the tyres were ideal for their car and set-up.
At the start of Q2 on mediums, he clocked a 1:11.0 before George Russell brought out the red flag. On the softs late in it he smashed in a 1:10.7 to ultimately go P3 in that session.
Come Q3, a 1:11.2 was the best Albon could do on the mediums, not improving on softs at the end.
“Well, none of them worked. Honestly, for us, I don’t think we have a good understanding to tell you what was better. I think the Q2 on the 2 laps I did was half a second quicker than my Q3 laps. I did the same lap time in Q3 on the medium and the soft.
“Something happened on the Q2 lap that made the tyre switch on, and I never got that feeling again. It just shows you the tyres are so sensitive.
“You do the same out laps, you do the same build laps, everything you do is the same. You start the lap in turn 1, you have a massive snap, and the lap is over already. It doesn’t really make that much sense to me, and I need to kind of figure it out.”
When asked about the grip levels on the soft tyres, Albon explained how fast the drop of performance occurs.
“It’s almost too soft. It doesn’t really give much more grip, and in the high-speed corners, it falls over because it’s so soft. That’s the feeling you get. It works in moments, but at least for u,s it’s so sensitive. You really have to underdrive it to get the lap time, which is not ideal.”
Sunday opportunities
Looking ahead at tomorrow’s race, Albon clarified that it’ll be an uncharted territory due to the new rule of 2 mandatory pit stops, but he emphasized the importance of a good strategy to manage the several variables they’ll have to consider, such as early pitters and tyre management.
“I have no idea. I think you’re going to get some lap 1 starters, you’re going to get someone pushing a bit more in the beginning of the race. It’s almost a forced two-stop. There’s still graining, so there’s still going to be management.
“Let’s see, I obviously can’t even tell you what’s going to happen. I think we’re going to have to split the cars and try to cover off some of the early boxers and see what happens.
“I think we have to [split]. P10, maybe we don’t, maybe Carlos is more inclined to. I think we need to do something different between the two cars and see what we can do.”
