Alex Albon’s impressive performance in Friday’s practice sessions at the British Grand Prix left him trying to understand the unexpected top-three pace achieved by Williams. The Anglo-Thai driver secured the third-fastest time in both sessions, even challenging the dominance of Max Verstappen from Red Bull Racing.
Albon’s standout performance raised eyebrows as he achieved a time within half a second of Verstappen’s pace during the opening Silverstone practice session. In the following FP2 session, he replicated his success, narrowing the gap to Verstappen to just two-tenths of a second.
Alex Albon Suspects Tricky Conditions Played a Role When asked to explain the source of Williams’ pace, Albon admitted that the results were surprising and not something they expected. While he believed the windy conditions worked in their favor, he also suggested that the team’s recent upgrades may have contributed to their performance at a track well-suited to their FW45 challenger.
Acknowledging Williams’ reputation for not being associated with one-lap heroics, Albon commented, “Exactly. We don’t either. I’d be lying to say it’s not surprising, obviously we’re not doing anything special.”
He further explained, “It’s strange because, without sounding too pessimistic, it doesn’t feel great out there for us, but it clearly must feel worse for the others. The wind out there today is a real pain; it really affects the balance of the car. We seem to be coping with it much better than everyone else.”
Albon attributed part of their performance to the team’s upgrade package, which appeared to be more effective in high-speed corners. He also noted that their long-run pace was strong, even on the hard tires.
Remaining grounded and focused on their own progress, Albon expressed his surprise at finding himself in the top three, saying, “Bit of a strange one to finish laps and then see yourself in the top three!”
Logan Sargeant Takes a Pessimistic Approach While Albon maintained a grounded perspective, teammate Logan Sargeant appeared more skeptical about Williams’ pace and how it compares to the frontrunners when all performance factors are considered.
Sargeant also pointed out that the conditions are expected to change on Saturday, with heavy rain predicted, which will present an entirely different challenge.
Acknowledging the uncertainty going into qualifying day, Sargeant said, “Yeah, definitely. I think tomorrow, a lot of things change. It’s going to be a lot cooler, rain is on the way. I think we were just making the best out of a difficult situation with the conditions.”
Expressing his disbelief that other teams might not have much more to offer, Sargeant emphasized the need to improve his performance in both low and high fuel runs.
Albon has been the sole point scorer for Williams in the 2023 season so far, while Sargeant and fellow rookie Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri have yet to secure any points.
As qualifying day approaches, the Williams team will aim to build on their surprising Friday performance and adapt to the changing conditions to achieve the best possible results at the British Grand Prix.
