After scoring a point in the 2023 season opener Bahrain Grand Prix, Alexander Albon was full of praise for his Williams team and the “amazing job” to improve the car following a difficult 2022 season. The Thai driver explained how the team made a “low downforce” set-up work in their favour in Sakhir and helped bring a point home.
Photo Credits: Williams Racing
Alex Albon started the season strongly for Williams, scoring a point on his first race with the team’s new FW45 challenger, which he described as the “second” most-improved car in the field.
While all the focus was rightly on Aston Martin’s jump from the midfield to being a podium challenger on merit, Albon says Williams made significant progress which wasn’t quite as obvious due to the lack of a big headline result.
He explained the team’s pace was even more impressive considering its “low downforce” choice and the windy conditions around the Sakhir circuit, saying he is “super proud” of the improvements made to their new car and how it is right behind Aston Martin in terms of year-on-year gains:
“It was actually a really tough race,” said Albon. “The wind and everything made the cars – I think for everyone – much more disconnected than [in qualifying]. Especially when we’re running low downforce, which makes it even trickier.
“So to have the pace we had under the circumstances, I have to say, I’m super proud.
“I am sure that everyone is looking at Aston Martin right now on the podium and thinking, ‘What a step they’ve done.’ But we are second.
“When you look at us from last year to this year, in this position 12 months on, I have to say we’ve done an amazing job. of course, we’re reliable and that helps, but we’ve got points at the first race.”
The Thai driver had to fend off a late challenge by Yuki Tsunoda, which he did successfully with the help of a top speed advantage over the AlphaTauri, which again emphasized the importance of the low drag choice for the weekend:
“I had a very low downforce set-up this weekend – even across cars [in the team] – we tried something.
“It was okay, it made it tricky out there. But we had the straight-line speed and we knew it was gonna be a race car. We’ve done it before [in] a few races last year.
“I felt like the last ten laps were [like] every race last year, so nothing new.”
Albon scored only four points last season, most of which came in races with special circumstances or bold strategies that have a high-risk involved. Whilst he is cautious of being “overly optimistic” about their 2023 chances, he believes the team has a better chance of improving their 2022 tally:
“I believe so,” when asked if points will be more regular for Williams in 2023. “I wouldn’t have said so coming into this weekend, but after this weekend, who knows anymore?
“We qualified out of position, we should have qualified higher up in my opinion. It would have made our race a lot easier, so that’s progress.
“I don’t want to be overly optimistic, but saying that, on the flipside, we’ve got some stuff in the next few races that will bring performance, so let’s see.”
One of Williams’ main traits last season was indeed its straight-line speed advantage compared to the rest of the field, and Albon confirmed that it has continued into the 2023, saying the team will focus on dialling out some “characteristic” problems with the FW45 to find even more performance:
“We need to address our weaknesses, that is the main thing,” he said. “We know in terms of downforce, we know where our advantage is, we kind of have a different character to most people: we are slippery on the straights and less quick in the corners.
“But we are making it work, and we’ve got to do what is good for our car right now. We still need to dial out some characteristic problems, that’s gonna take possibly a little bit longer.
“But for now, the short term, we know where we can improve, that’s there’s lap-time we can get out of it.”
