Qatar GP: First Sprint points for Williams Racing


By Williams Racing
October 11 2023

Despite not producing a great shootout result the Williams Racing Team would see Alex Albon finish the Sprint in 8th position, which became 7th after a post race penalty was applied to another driver. The Sprint would see the conditions improved greatly for Williams and the medium was proven to be the right tyre selection allowing Alex to drive into the points late in the race. For Logan he would be on the soft tyre and pushing in the early stages of the Sprint would spin into retirement. But it was a success Sprint for the team seeing them secure their first ever Sprint points.

 
  Williams Racing Qatar GP Sprint Review
 
Sargeant
 
Sargeant 

Logan Sargeant:
"I asked for too much when I turned in off the entry curb and the rear went super light. A silly mistake but the positive is that I’ve been driving well all weekend. The pace has been good, and we’ll carry that into tomorrow and try to have a good Grand Prix. So, that’s the plan and I’m looking forward to having another go in a better starting position on the grid."

 
Albon

Alex Albon:
"We capitalised on everyone’s difficulties today and this resulted in a point, which is now two points following Charles’ penalty, so I’m very happy! We took a gamble with set-up, and we made it work, so I think it came down to good strategy and some good fortune. We’re going to be in a good place for tomorrow, as long as the wind is low like it was in the Sprint, which it looks to be."

Robson

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"
Conditions were completely different between today’s two sessions. In the afternoon shootout session, we struggled to find grip and balance from the tyres and chassis. Consequently, we qualified poorly for the sprint race. However, in the cooler and calmer evening session, the car was considerably better, and Alex was able to make very good progress, helped by his choice of the more robust Medium tyre compound. Logan was on the more delicate Soft tyre and may have struggled more towards the end of the race, however, his race ended early when he left the track and ended in the gravel trap.

Incredibly, it’s only Saturday evening and there is a lot more of this Qatar event still to unfold. With some concerns over the tyre behaviour on the kerbs, there may yet be some additional restrictions that we will need to follow tomorrow. We have a good compliment of tyres available to both drivers and we are expecting benign conditions like we enjoyed this evening. Both drivers will be looking to make places and fight for points.

The whole team performed well today; it would’ve been easy for heads to drop after our performance in the shootout, but everyone continued to work diligently and prepare thoroughly for the sprint race. Today that work payed off and we scored our first points at a sprint event.

Finally, congratulations to Max and the whole team at Red Bull Racing for securing the Drivers’ Championship today. They have set the benchmark this season and they continue to provide a very high bar for us to aim for."

 

Albon

 
Sargeant
 

Track: Lusail International Circuit, Qatar    

Lap Length: 5.419 km
7 A ALBON Williams Racing +19.864 (1:28.717) 17
DNF L SARGEANT Williams Racing DNF (2:03.562) 20
 
Albon
 

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