While the recent signing of multi-time race winner Carlos Sainz is sure to lift the spirits of the team, Williams was left to grapple with the disappointment of seeing the chequered flag without scoring a point yet again at the Belgian Grand Prix. Finishing the race in twelfth place, Alex Albon was particularly lamenting the lack of a second set of hard tyres and how it compromised his performance from the very beginning.
In the midst of a major technical overhaul and delay in production, Williams started their 2024 Formula 1 campaign with a car that was significantly overweight. Both drivers found the FW46 tricky to drive at times as they kept bleeding critical lap time. Although the Imola package and subsequent smaller upgrades have made Albon’s car lighter to a degree, the excess weight continues to impede the Thai-British driver from demonstrating the general progress they have made in comparison to last year’s car.
Team principal James Vowles acknowledged these shortcomings while asserting that the current patch of underperformance was representative of short-term pain for long-term gain. When asked if he would reflect on the start of the 2024 season in a similar manner, Albon replied in the affirmative and added that the considerable changes in infrastructure and personnel were already strengthening the team.
“Yeah, I would say so. I think if you look at where we were—the delays from the start of the year.”
“We have been on the back foot from day one of 2024 and we have been paying the price bit by bit, I think. I have said this before but the whole reason why we have been delayed is because we have changed so much. We are already in a stronger position in terms of structure and at growth.”
In his post-race interview at Spa, Albon sounded quite optimistic about the upgrades that the Grove-based team intends to bring after the summer break. Given the performance gains they hope to make, the 28-year-old revealed that he was not regretful of the changes they have made since winter break last year. Despite taking a step backwards for the time being, they continue to create point-scoring opportunities.
“Hopefully once the upgrades start coming in and everything starts to work together, we will be getting in a better position. But I am not kicking myself so much about any of the changes we have done so far. Despite everything, we are still giving ourselves chances to score points.”
While the disappointing points tally might not represent his ambitions, Albon seemed confident of their progress and set a target for Williams to meet.
“We are not here to score points; we are here to finish in the top five.”
