Frustration was evident in Alex Albon’s demeanour after Saturday’s Qualifying session for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Williams driver, who has shown promising pace in recent races, found himself eliminated in Q2 and will start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid.
Strategy timing under question
Albon pinpointed the team’s decision to send him out when no other cars were on track as a critical factor in his Q2 elimination. At a circuit where slipstream can provide valuable time gains, the Thai-British driver was left without the aerodynamic advantage of following other cars.
“We’ll review it. I think the timing of our Q2 run was questionable. We went out when no one else did,” Albon explained after the session. “This track’s like Monza, you need the circulation. If cars run in-laps, out-laps, it doesn’t really matter, there’s a circulation on the track. It pulls you around quite nicely, especially in sector 2, sector 3.”
The consequences of this isolated run were immediately apparent in his lap times. “I think I was slowest in sector 3 on my last lap in Q2 because we didn’t have a tow,” he added, highlighting how the lack of slipstream had compromised his final attempt to reach Q3.
Missed opportunities at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Qualifying
For Albon, the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Qualifying marks the second consecutive weekend where Q3 has seemed within reach, only to slip through his fingers. This pattern has clearly left him frustrated, particularly as Williams appears to have the pace to compete for points.
“It’s frustrating because there’s obviously two weekends in a row where it feels like we should be in the points. We should be in the top 10 Q3s quite confidently, but we’ve missed it for whatever reason,” he said.
When asked if he had questioned the team’s call to go out early, Albon’s response revealed the complex dynamics of team decision-making during the heat of qualifying. “In the moment, no, because there’s a moment of trust within all of us. Tricky. It’s a tricky one,” he admitted.
“I just needed two or three cars starting their outlaps or something to get the air moving. That would have made a difference. What was interesting was track evolution has been quite high this weekend. Higher than maybe we expected, so we didn’t expect everyone to go out at the very end.”
Competitive midfield battle
Albon’s frustration stems partly from an acute awareness of how tight the midfield battle has become in Formula 1. With teams so closely matched, maximising every opportunity becomes critical.
“Honestly, not that happy. I feel like I’ve got used to it too quickly. We should have been in Q3 every session so far, and we’ve missed out on all the last two,” he reflected.
“Frustrating, because I think as a team, you never know when you have the car to be in the top ten. I think in the midfield, it’s just one team away from one upgrade that stops you from scoring points. You always want to be in the moment, maximising everything.”
Albon stays optimistic for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Despite the qualifying disappointment, Albon remains cautiously optimistic about his chances in Sunday’s race. Starting just outside the top ten puts him in a position to capitalise on any incidents ahead – as demonstrated by Lando Norris’s qualifying crash that left the McLaren driver in P10.
When asked about race opportunities, Albon responded, “For sure. I think we’ll be OK. The race pace here is odd.”
“This compound drop that they’ve done this weekend is not easy. It’s quite a dominant tyre. I won’t say which one, but you can imagine which one it is. It might be tricky, because I think a lot of teams have two, we have one. Let’s see how it plays out in the race.”
