Williams Racing suffered another disappointing weekend during the 2024 F1 Qatar GP, after Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto both failed to score a single point in either the sprint or feature race.
Speaking after the race, Albon described the race as “not easy.” However, he admitted that the FW46 had not been quick enough to compete with the rest of the field. Albon finished P15 out of the 15 drivers who completed the race, one lap down from the other 14 drivers.
“Yeah, not easy, but not quick enough to be honest.”
Use of soft tyres in Qatar GP an “optimistic gamble” — Albon
Albon also addressed Williams’ decision to use the soft compound tyre. He described the decision as “optimistic gamble” that had given him an advantage on the restarts.
“So, we’re at the back. We took a risk with the soft tyres just to try to see if we could do something.
“Honestly, it was an optimistic gamble but it was a gamble worth taking just because of the pace that we had.
“So, we made up some positions on the restarts and we’re in the points momentarily.”
However, Albon claimed that the lack of a safety car in the final stages of the Qatar GP race had resulted in unsustainable tyre degradation which had negatively impacted his race.
“But unfortunately, we relied on maybe another safety car at the end just to not do laps at full speed and destroy the tyres. So we ended up degrading quite badly.”
“Maybe it’s for the show”
Albon also addressed the spectacular volume of penalties handed out to the drivers during the Qatar GP race. When asked for his thoughts on the penalty that he had received after his collision with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Albon stated that he was “not so mad about it.”
“Yeah, whatever, not so mad about it.”
He explained that he had struggled to manage his FW46 in Turn 1 throughout the weekend and had “lost the car in the dirty air” while racing Magnussen.
“Yeah, that’s it really. We’ve been awful in Turn 1 all weekend with the wind and literally, I can’t go side by side or else I tend to… I lost the car in the dirty air when we got close and that was it.”
As stated in FIA 2024 Qatar GP Document 62, at the apex of Turn 1, Albon oversteered and collided with Magnussen after attempting to correct. The stewards subsequently found the Williams driver to have breached Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code. They handed him a 10-second time penalty and 2 penalty points on his super licence.
Albon’s penalty was just one of several handed out during the race. When asked if there had been changes made to the stewarding procedures, Albon stated that while there had been discussions, the changes appeared to have increased the difficulty of racing.
“Everything we talked about was to make them easier, but they seem to be making it harder.
“Maybe it’s for the show,” he wondered.
Albon unclear about delayed safety car after loss of mirror
The Williams driver was asked about the loss of his wing mirror and the length of time before race control implemented sufficient measures to allow for its removal from the track.
Albon admitted that he had been aware that he had lost his mirror, and joked that he had lost in to try to “make a race” for himself.
“I mean it was my mirror so I saw it come off.
“I grabbed it and broke it trying to make a race for myself. That was a joke, by the way.”
However, he added that he had not been able to see it or its debris on the track in subsequent laps.
“I didn’t see it. I don’t know if someone else drove over it by the time I got to it or by the time I got around.”
When told that the debris had been next to the racing line on the main straight, and asked if he had found it strange that there had not been an earlier intervention to remove it, Albon stated that he did not know too much about the incident.
“About the debris? Yeah, possibly. Maybe just a quick VSC or whatever. Sorry, I don’t know.”
Albon added that he had not been concerned about the length of time required behind the safety car to remove the debris from the track. He claimed that this had helped his race during that stint as he had been on the soft compound tyre.
“Not for me because I was on the soft tyre so I was trying to have it go as long as possible. But we saw they were slow also this morning with the repairing of the barrier so I don’t know if it’s just a track-specific thing.”
Disappointing” Qatar GP for Colapinto after Turn 1 collision
Perhaps more unlucky than Albon was his teammate, Franco Colapinto, who became one of the first drivers to retire from the race after a collision with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. This was Colapinto’s second retirement from five races (including the sprint races in Brazil and Qatar).
“Nothing I could do” – Colapinto on Qatar GP opening lap collision
Colapinto described his short races as “very disappointing.” He noted that it was frustrating to have been forced out of the race so early as he had tried to avoid any collisions with drivers. He added that taking excessive risks while starting the the back was “quite stupid.”
“Yeah, it’s just very disappointing. I just got taken out in T1 and nothing I could do really.”
“It’s quite frustrating in T1, starting on the back from P18-19, it’s quite stupid to risk it so much. I left a very big gap on the inside and they still draw one to the side of me. Nothing I could do, try to avoid it the most I could.“
He further lamented his early exit from the race, stating that the excitement had opened up opportunities to score points. However, despite admitting his disappointment, the Argentine admitted that such incidents were a “part of racing.”
“Looking at the race as well, it looked quite exciting so it would have been quite nice to be there and trying to fight for points.
“But it’s part of racing and unfortunately, [that] wasn’t done today. It was a tough weekend.
“You know, especially to get taken out in Turn 1 is always the most frustrating because you can’t really do anything. I didn’t even get to do one corner completely. It’s just disappointing, especially with the race.
“We all thought it was going to be a bit of a boring race and at the end, it was very exciting. It opened a lot of opportunities for everyone.
“It’s part of racing, sometimes it doesn’t go as you want. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a race that really wasn’t planned.”
Williams turning focus to Abu Dhabi after disappointing Qatar GP
When asked about his poor form in recent races and spate of disappointing results after a promising start to his F1 career, Colapinto admitted that both he and Albon had had a “pretty tough couple of races.”
While he claimed that it was normal to have these “ups and downs,” he stated that the team would be focusing on the upcoming race in Abu Dhabi.
“Yeah, sometimes you have these up and downs and as Alex we both have a pretty tough couple of races.
“I think the most important is to try to end up strong in Abu Dhabi and finish the year on a high. It’s going to be the best we can do.”
The Williams’ driver highlighted that the team was prioritising repairs to his damaged FW46 but admitted that there would be challenges due to the lack of available replacement parts.
“So, we’re going to try to fix the car the best we can and try to go with the best package possible to Abu Dhabi.
“Well, I think we don’t have any [sets of front suspension]. I don’t really know. It’s not the best situation.
“I have to understand how we can fix the car for Abu Dhabi, it’s going to be the most important part.
“Yeah, for sure we are going to try and reset. I’m going to try to work with the team and understand what we can do for Abu Dhabi for last weekend. What parts we have and see where we are there.”
Colapinto hoping to end F1 stint with Williams on a high
With just one race left before he finds himself without a contract, Colapinto stated that he aimed to end the season “on a high and on a positive note”.
“Yeah, we are going to try. I think it’s quite important for everyone in the team to end up on a high and on a positive note. I’m going to do my best to finish this tough couple of races for us.”
