Alexander Albon believes he’s getting the most available from Williams’ car this year, despite only scoring one point so far.
The team has seldom breached the top 10 in Saturdays and Sundays so far this year. Albon made their sole Q3 appearance to date in Melbourne, which boosted his average starting position to 12.6. Rookie team mate Logan Sargeant has only reached Q2 once in conventional qualifying and has started five places further back on average.
At the seperate Baku sprint race Albon qualified seventh and finish ninth, which was not enough to add any points to the single one he picked up with 10th place in the Bahrain season-opener. Since then the team’s best result on a Sunday has been 12th for Albon in Baku.
“We still think we’re the ninth-quickest car,” Albon said at last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. “We’re in a position now where I’m in my second year, I know exactly what I need in the car, I know all the limits of the car and I feel like I’m driving well, if I’m being totally honest.”
He believes the team has extracted the most from its package so far this year. “We are putting ourselves constantly in good positions, always doing the right strategies in qualifying. You see us always being up at the front, staying away from all the issues that everyone keeps facing in qualifying. We have clean runs, always semi-happy with my laps, and we are in a good place.”
Albon missed out on a place in Q3 by just 0.053s in Miami. He ended the 57-lap race less than 10 seconds away from finishing in the points, but down in 14th
He pointed out the contrast to 2022, when Williams generally looked less competitive but Albon was able to score two of the team’s eight points by finishing ninth in Miami.
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“Qualifying on new tyres hides limitations in the car. When you’ve got a little bit more grip, the front’s working a little bit better in low-speed, the rear is working a little bit better in high-speed.
“In the race we are falling back a little bit, but it’s close. And that’s the thing. What I would say is there’s two tenths where the car can or we can overperform and underperform. And that two tenths is what puts you into Q2, on the brink of Q3, or last.
“Compare it to last year where we do a really good job, we barely scraped through to Q2 because there was almost a half-a-second gap to chase. This year, it’s like every team is basically maximising or not maximising, and…
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