Since Mexico, Williams has a new opponent in the fight for seventh place in the constructors’ world championship. Because AlphaTauri scored six points there, the team from Faenza is only twelve points behind Williams. That’s why alarm bells are ringing for Alexander Albon.
“The danger is very real,” he explains with regard to the possibility of losing seventh place in the world championship in the last three races of the year. AlphaTauri “took a big step” with the Singapore update and has continued to improve since then.
“It’s pretty clear that they have overtaken us in terms of pace,” said Albon, who finished ninth in Austin and Mexico. AlphaTauri alone scored a whopping eleven points in these two races. If they can keep up this pace, things will be tight again for Williams.
Especially since, according to Albon, the track in Brazil this weekend should suit the AlphaTauri “pretty well”. “They seem to be very strong in slow corners,” he explains, emphasizing that it will be “tough” for Williams to defend P7 in the World Championship.
“We still have a competitive car”
The team is now in defense mode. “You don’t really want to have that attitude. You still want to be aggressive and push. But it gets tricky,” explains Albon, who remembers that his own car hasn’t had an update for some time.
The big update in Canada in June was also the last one of the season. Since then, Williams’ focus has been on 2024. “Of course it would be a shame to lose P7. But I still think it was the right decision,” emphasizes Albon.
Because he makes it clear: “We still have a competitive car.” So you still have a regular chance of winning points, even though development of the FW45 was stopped months ago. The last race in Mexico was a good example for the rest of the season.
“We have to take advantage of opportunities when they arise,” Albon clarifies, emphasizing that Williams did exactly that in Mexico. With their own ninth place they limited the damage and only lost four points to AlphaTauri.
Before qualifying, there was even the impression that there could be more in it for Williams. Albon finished the third and final training session in P2 – before he was eliminated from qualifying in Q2 and only started the race from 14th place on the grid.
“We think it has to do with the track temperature,” explains Albon. Because in qualifying it was a few degrees warmer than before. However, the tires in the Outlap were prepared in a similar way to before, and that was not “what the route required.”
In addition, it is generally a “weakness of the car” that you lose performance when the track gets too hot. “We tend to put a little more energy into the rear tires than most teams. When the track is cool, we usually do well,” explains Albon.
Formula 1: Las Vegas the best track for Williams?
During the European season, there were often mixed conditions throughout the weekend, he recalls. “That was perfect for us because it kept the track cool,” explains Albon. On hot routes, however, it is much more difficult.
And that doesn’t just apply to qualification, because although he fought his way back up to ninth place in the race in Mexico, Albon emphasizes: “Our long run pace in FT2 was very strong in Mexico. We couldn’t replicate that in the race.”
Possibly the best of the three remaining routes on the calendar for Williams could be Las Vegas. Because the race starts there at 10 p.m. and qualifying doesn’t even start until midnight. Accordingly, it should be cool there.
“It’s a track that should suit us because of the layout and also because of the temperatures,” hopes Albon, because it won’t be easy to get the tires up to temperature in qualifying. Williams could then have an advantage.
And a good result there could help maintain seventh place in the World Cup.