French GP: Uncertain FP2 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
July 22 2022

The second Friday practice session for the 2022 French GP would see the Williams Racing Team come away with what could be described as uncertain results with Alex Albon finishing in 16th and Nicholas Latifi 20th. For Nicholas this was the same as he earlier session position but for Alex his time would see him drop well down the order but even so he was just 0.59s off the tenth placed time. Could this be a typical conservative Williams Friday or representative of what the car and drivers are capable of. We will find out soon enough come Saturday when the team has time to assess the Friday data and make changes.

 
 Williams Racing French GP Friday 2nd Practice
 
Latifi
 

Team Summary:
With the start of the second Friday practice session for the 2022 French Grand Prix the majority of drivers would be using the medium tyre for their first runs. Alonso was initially quickest with a time of 1m:35.531 followed by Ocon and Gasly. Schumacher would go third now ahead of Gasly, Russell, Norris, Zhou, Magnussen, Bottas and Hamilton tenth. Magnussen was now quickest with a time of 1m:35.386 but quickly the times would change with Leclerc going fastest with a 1m:34.182 now followed by Russell, Gasly, Alex, Perez, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon, Norris and Schumacher. Bottas would improve to be fifth while for Williams their drivers were currently fourth and 14th.

Verstappen was able to go quickest with a 1m:34.172 using the medium tyre but Sainz would move ahead with a time of 1m:33.322 using the soft tyre as the majority of the field returned to their pits. But we would have a Williams out for a soft tyre run joined by the Aston Martins on the same tyre. Vettel would move into fourth ahead of Stroll both on the soft tyre. More drivers were returning on the soft tyre as we now had Leclerc quickest with a time of 1m:33.136 from Sainz and Verstappen. But Magnussen would move into third from Gasly, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Alonso, Bottas, Vettel, and Stroll tenth. Sainz was again able to go quickest with a time of 1m:32.527 followed by Leclerc and Verstappen. Hamilton was now fourth followed by Magnussen, Gasly, Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas and Vettel tenth. The Williams drivers were currently 14th and 20th.

Twenty minutes remaining in the session and now had Russell fourth followed by Hamilton, Norris, Gasly, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Alonso now tenth. Perez was able to move past Alonso for tenth with just five minutes remaining in the session. The top ten would remain the same with Sainz remaining quickest from Leclerc and Verstappen. Again the drivers would be allowed to complete practice starts from the grid while for Williams the pair would finish in 16th and 20th. How to take that session for Williams Racing with their positions for at least one driver taking a backward step in this session. Could it come down to the traditional conservative Friday pace from Williams.

Alex Albon:
Alex would come out for his first run using the medium tyre and would set a 1m:36.409 to currently be 12th. But with a 1m:35.107 would see him now an encouraging fourth and with a five lap run he would pit. He would drop to seventh and after a short stop he would also come out for a soft tyre run. Alex was now down in 11th and yet to find any improvement in his times. He would find time with a 1m:34.653 to be 14th as he pitted after a three lap run on the soft tyre. He would return on used soft tyres but would pit after a single lap returning on used medium tyres. He was currently 16th and with the end of the session would complete eleven laps on the medium tyre.

Nicholas Latifi:
With the start of the second Friday practice session Nicholas would be out first for Williams. He would start the session using the hard tyre. He would set a 1m:38.479 to be 12th but a 1m:36.224 would see him 10th. He would complete his run with six laps on the hard tyre currently 15th. He would drop to be 17th but would return for a run on the soft tyre and with a 1m:35.412 would move up to be 12th dropping to 18th. He would pit currently 20th and slowest. He would return for a hard tyre run with ten minutes remaining and with the end of the session would complete twelve laps on the hard tyre.

 
Albon
 
Cla Driver Chassis Laps Gap
1  Carlos Sainz Ferrari 22  
2  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 22 0.101
3  Max Verstappen Red Bull 17 0.550
4  George Russell Mercedes 20 0.764
5  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 23 0.990
6  Lando Norris McLaren 21 1.080
7  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 24 1.379
8  Kevin Magnussen Haas 24 1.401
9  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 23 1.457
10  Sergio Perez Red Bull 16 1.533
11  Fernando Alonso Alpine 24 1.732
12  Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 27 1.737
13  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 27 1.893
14  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 24 2.013
15  Lance Stroll Aston Martin 26 2.068
16  Alex Albon Williams 23 2.126
17  Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 26 2.127
18  Esteban Ocon Alpine 26 2.133
19  Mick Schumacher Haas 22 2.668
20  Nicholas Latifi Williams 27 2.885
 
Latifi
 

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