The Williams crew has done a remarkable job to get both cars ready for the F1 Las Vegas GP following a brutal weekend in São Paulo as Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon crashed three times between qualifying and the race as rain hit on Sunday.
The Thai driver missed the race such was the damage to his car following his accident at turn 1 in qualifying. Colapinto crashed at turn 3 in Q1, with the Argentine aquaplaining into the wall at turn 14 in the Grand Prix.
Thanks to the outstanding work by everyone back at their Grove base, it means Albon and Colapinto will have the latest spec car for the F1 Las Vegas GP.
Albon credits the crew
Speaking on Wednesday in Las Vegas, Alex Albon was full of praise for the job the crew did, including working overtime to get everything done.
He also touched on the championship. Williams dropped to P9 in the standings as Alpine secured a double podium at Interlagos. They are 27 points behind RB now.
“Yes, it’s been a huge effort, I would say, not only to get them here ready, but also in the same specification as Brazil.
“It’s fair to say there’s not many spare parts left for the rest of the season, but at the same time it just shows you the quality that we have back at the factory and here at the racetrack.
“It’s been a huge effort to get it all done on time, and of course that’s a lot of time spent after work hours and over the night to get these cars ready.
“We’re still fighting in a championship battle, it feels a bit more disconnected with Alpine scoring so well last race out, but it’s great to see the hunger and desire from everyone to get the cars ready.”
Driving like normal
For the second time this year, the Williams F1 drivers are under huge pressure not to crash their FW46 machines as Colapinto and Albon face a street circuit at the Las Vegas GP.
In Australia, Logan Sargeant was sidelined as Williams gave Alex Albon his car after the Thai destroyed his chassis in a huge FP1 crash.
Williams faced a race against time to get their car ready for Bahrain, leaving them short of spares in the opening rounds of the season.
Albon says not thinking about it when driving is key, as going under the limit can often lead to accidents or mistakes.
“Yes, but it happens. I feel like these things are always upon us.
“It was the same thing in the first few races of the year when we had one no spare chassis.
“The moment you start to think about spare parts and driving under the limit is actually normally when you start making mistakes.
“We go about it as a normal weekend, of course not taking crazy risks, especially on a Friday.
“But we’re here to race, we’re here to do a good job, we’re here to score points.”
Colapinto on a tricky Brazil weekend
The reality of how tough F1 can be hit Franco Colapinto at the Brazil GP after his stunning start to life in the sport.
Following points scoring finishes in Baku and Austin, and showing very strong pace against teammate Alex Albon, Interlagos was tough.
While his pace looked pretty solid once again, crashes in Q1 and the Grand Prix showed the rookie how difficult this category can be in the wet.
He explained the causes of the difficulties.
“Yeah, it was a tough weekend in Brazil.
“I think over these past six races, I’ve had five very good ones, and full of new challenges.
“Like, every weekend I’ve had something new. And, OK, Brazil was an exception.
“It’s just that I didn’t really manage well the race and those expectations in the wet that sometimes it’s like a switch.
“The tyres were not fully in, there was a lot of aquaplaning, and the situation was a bit more tricky.”
Heroes of the week
Along with Albon, the 21-year-old from Argentina lauded the crew for the job they did, calling them heroes for getting the cars ready.
“Unfortunately for the team, we left the race with a lot of damage.
“But the boys in the workshop, they have been working so, so hard to get the cars back here in Vegas in the latest spec.
“The cars are looking great. The guys did a fantastic job in the factory, so I’m very proud of them.
“They are the heroes of the week by far. So yeah, very grateful.”
Keeping it clean
As has been the case for most of his time in F1 so far, Franco Colapinto is facing a new circuit this weekend.
While it will be important to keep the car out of the barriers, he is excited to tackle Las Vegas for the first time.
“Yeah, well, it is very important for the team that both cars have a clean last few races.
“It is important always to close the year in the right way and to close the year with points, hopefully.
“You know, you are only as good as your last race, and our last race was not great.
“So, we have to recover from that. I’m sure we can do.
“We have a good car for this track as well, so looking forward to it, looking forward to driving in Vegas and hopefully have a good weekend.”
Trying to recover points
Alongside further discussion about the damage sustained in the Americas triple-header and getting the cars ready, Colapinto got punchy discussing Williams’ prospects for the final three events.
Williams have only scored 17 points to date in 2024, leaving them 27 adrift of RB.
An Alpine-like result from Brazil is required to give them a shot at anything above P9 from here.
Nonetheless, Colapinto says they will be going full attack to try and finish the season very strongly.
“You can imagine that after a triple-header where we had a lot of damage in Mexico. Alex had a lot in Brazil. We had a lot with both cars.
“It’s going to be tough, but I think the cars are fully ready for it.
“The team is doing a great job to get all the spares ready. We are looking strong as a team. Maybe it looks worse than what it is. I think we are in a good position.
“We have to be aggressive. We lost 8th place in the championship, so we are going aggressive now and trying to recover points race after race.
“Until Abu Dhabi, there is always an opportunity, so we’ll try until there to do our best.”
