Alexander Albon: “I’m excited to see what we can extract from the new package”

Alexander Albon says he is excited to see what Williams Racing can extract from its upgraded package this weekend at the Hungaroring, especially after feeling they had made a good step forward with it last time out in France.

The Thai driver was able to get into Q2 last weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard and had moments of competitiveness on Sunday, although he was unable to break into the points – his last top ten finish came in the Miami Grand Prix where he finished ninth.

Albon says Qualifying again will be important in Hungary at a track that has a lot of twists and turns, and he is confident Williams can make another step forward with its package.

“I’m looking forward to Hungary as it’s a nice, proper driver’s circuit with lots of twists,” said Albon.  “Because of this, qualifying is quite important compared to other circuits.

“I’m excited to see what we can extract from the new package, as it felt like we had a positive weekend in France so can hopefully build on that for Hungary.

“Some rain is predicted for across the weekend so this will play a part, however last year Williams played a good strategy and it paid off with some points so hopefully we can do something similar.”

“Last year we had some good memories there” – Nicholas Latifi

Team-mate Nicholas Latifi has fond memories of last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Canadian having scored his maiden points finish after taking seventh place.

Latifi ran as high as third as he capitalised on the chaos at the start of the race, and although he did not have the pace to stay here, he did have enough to stay in the top ten.

Heading into this weekend’s race, Latifi hopes Williams will again go well in Hungary, and he also hopes they can maximise the new upgrades they introduced to his car last weekend in France.

“I’m excited to go back to Hungary!” said Latifi.  “Last year we had some good memories there with a double points finish. It was a track that we seemed to go quite well on so hopefully we can carry over the same this year.

“This is the second time for me using the upgrade package and we’re looking to take the learnings from France to optimise it a little bit more.

“The weather looks unpredictable for Saturday which could present some opportunities that we can take advantage of and have a good weekend.”

Nicholas Latifi hopes for a competitive weekend in Hungary – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd