Alex Albon emphasised the significance of finishing ninth during Sunday’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, securing Williams’ first points of the 2024 campaign. Heading into the Grand Prix, Williams, alongside Sauber, was one of the two teams yet to score any points.
Williams faced a series of challenges leading up to Monaco, including a troubled off-season, spare-chassis drama, and an overweight car. However, the Monaco Grand Prix marked a turning point for Albon and his team. The Thai qualified an excellent ninth on Saturday and managed to convert that position into two crucial points on Sunday.
“To be honest with you, I’ll take that,” Albon said. “P9 is good for the team, gets us off to a start and means a lot to us. Never like to be pointless.”
Albon highlighted the importance of these points for team morale and expressed hope that this achievement could act as a springboard for the rest of the season. He acknowledged the positive impact of recent upgrades that has helped reduced the weight of his FW46, stating, “We’ve added small amounts of performance to the car, so it’s good to see these upgrades working and that we’re able to stay around a similar pace to our direct competitors.”
Throughout the race, Albon found himself right behind Yuki Tsunoda, as the field engaged in severe pace management following a red flag restart. He admitted that he would have preferred to score his first points of the season in a “more interesting race.”
Albon expressed frustration with the slow pace of the Japanese driver as Tsunoda looked to avoid giving cars behind any chance of making a free stop to have fresher tyres as the race went on, making it difficult for him to maintain focus.
“It’s annoying because [Tsunoda] had pace, he had so much pace! I was like, we can all manage, I’m happy to manage. We don’t need to manage this much,” Albon explained.
“We were managing so much. I was like, ‘man, I could get out and drive my Vespa around here’. I mean, it was so slow. It was so painful. It’s actually hard to stay focused when you’re driving that slowly because you’re just not even near anything. You’re not near any limit.”
Tsunoda’s sudden burst of speed towards the end of the race added to Albon’s frustration. “[Tsunoda] absolutely cleared off at the end of the race, and I was like, ‘you could have done this the whole time.’”
Despite finding the Monaco GP an underwhelming affair, Albon’s performance and the points for Williams served as a suitable remedy for the otherwise dull race. The two points lifted the team’s spirits and provided a positive outlook for the upcoming races.
