Williams Racing’s Alex Albon took seventh place at the Canadian Grand Prix after putting together a stellar drive from his ninth place starting position. Albon attributed the success of the team’s campaign in Montréal to the upgrade they brought, along with how well-suited FW45 was to the track.
Albon was one of just a few drivers to take on a one stop strategy, moving from his starting mediums to hards under the safety car on lap thirteen and taking the set to the end. He was able to defend his position well from there, holding off several strong midfield contenders to secure the result.
“It’s been a very strong weekend and I have to thank the team first and foremost because we had the upgrade on the car, and I think it shows that we made a good step and the circuit suited us.
“The work that has gone on at the factory to get this upgrade ready has been monumental and everyone has been working so hard. We also fitted a new PU, so we threw everything at this weekend.”
Having earned six points at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Albon’s result has allowed Williams to overtake Scuderia AlphaTauri for ninth in the constructors’ standings.
“We had a great qualifying yesterday and now the race today was great. To get these points on the board and move up to ninth in the Championship is a nice place to be and it’s great to be able to say thank you to the team and have this reward for everything that everyone has done.”
“We had a really good start to the race with a car we could fight with.” – Logan Sargeant
On the other side of the garage, team-mate Logan Sargeant saw his race come to an end on only lap six, having to retire the car after the team discovered a technical problem. The American driver had felt confident in the car’s potential in the race’s first laps, though any opportunity to battle for positions was quickly halted.
“We had a really good start to the race with a car we could fight with. I had the AlphaTauri ahead under quite a bit of pressure and I felt quick. Unfortunately, I got the message to stop the car as soon as possible due to an issue which ended my race.”
In spite of Sunday’s disappointing outcome, Sargeant said that he has gained a lot of knowledge when it comes to driving an F1 car in variable conditions, which came into play throughout the course of the weekend.
Overall, he remains optimistic about the team’s direction going into the Austrian Grand Prix, considering the pace they’ve had and the confidence that has been built with the new upgrade on Albon’s car.
“I’ve learned a lot this weekend from using the full wet tyres, driving in the wet, and driving on the inters on a drying track. Honestly in the dry, I feel like we’ve been pretty quick. It didn’t work out today, but we can be positive going to Austria.”
Credit: Williams Media