Williams had a weekend to forget in Barcelona. P19 and P20 in qualifying, P18 and P20 the final result in the race. Alexander Albon’s slip into the gravel towards the end of the race was in keeping with the disappointing performance. Albon vehemently asked his team for an explanation during the Formula 1 race in Spain. Afterwards, the Thai driver explained the angry pit radio communication with his race engineer James Urwin.
Alex Albon despairs: What the hell was that?
On lap 59, the Williams driver briefly lost control of his car in turn 4 and went off the track. “It was a bit strange. I know where the limit of the car is and that wasn’t the limit,” Alex Albon was unable to fully explain the incident even after the race.
Immediately after his brief excursion off the track, Albon radioed his pit angrily: “What the hell was that?” When his race engineer immediately replied reassuringly that everything looked fine from the command post, Albon reacted angrily: “No, it’s not okay. Don’t just say that in five seconds.”
One lap later, Urwin reported back: “We see damage to the front wing.” But that didn’t interest Albon, who continued to investigate the car’s problem in turn 4. At this point, the team suspected that the wheels were locking up as the reason why Albon’s car was not turning as desired. It was only at the end of the cool-down lap that the race engineer radioed: “It looks like it was the wind. There was a gust of 17 km/h.”
Reality check for Williams: We lack downforce!
At least the incident did not cost Albon any position, as the gap to his pursuer Yuki Tsunoda in P19 was large enough at that moment at around 12 seconds. Albon, for his part, had worked his way close to Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo with a good tire strategy despite starting from the pit lane. So he might have been able to gain a position.
However, the points were a long way off anyway. “This track was a little reality check. On the more traditional tracks we are further away and we lack downforce compared to the others. The additional weight of the car combined with the strong wind and the track temperatures slowed us down,” summed up the Williams driver. In the He is currently ranked 17th in the World Cup table with two points.
But he believes he will soon make a comeback: “It was a tough race. As the midfield gets stronger and stronger, it’s clear that we still have work to do. But we benefit from tracks that are a little different. Austria and Silverstone should suit us much better.”
How did the Spanish Grand Prix go for Mercedes, Ferrari and Co.? Christian highlights the key points: