Monaco GP: Promising qualifying for Williams F1 Team
By Williams F1 Team
June 7 2026
Qualifying for the 2026 Monaco GP would see Atlassian Williams F1 Team drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finish 11th & 12th. Both drivers were able to put in performances that saw the team well placed for Sunday's race. The performance from Carlos was a memorable one as he was forced to set a time under the most difficult of circumstances. Q1 was stopped by a Red Flag with just minutes remaining forcing Carlos to make just just a single lap on old and cold tyres. But he rose to the occassion and joined Alex in Q2. With the end of Q2 both drivers would finish the sallest of margins from making it into Q3. A very promising session that now offers both drivers the real opportunity to securing points finishes.
Atlassian Williams F1 Team
Monaco GP Qualifying Review
Alex Albon:
"I'm happy with P11 today. We left Q3 on the table which is a
little frustrating, but my final lap was entirely on the limit. I
clipped the barrier in sector 3 as I was pushing flat out and I lost a
little bit of time but was able to get away with it. As a team, we took
a different approach this weekend to try and get into the rhythm early
after a series of tougher race weekends and missing out on track time,
so we tried to keep it simple and just chip away and build on every
session. This was a result of all the work we've done recently, so P11
and P12 are decent starting positions for tomorrow. The strategy for the
race is looking like a one-stop so having a good start will be crucial
to hopefully make up some positions and get into the points."
Carlos Sainz:
"On one hand, I’m impressed that I was able to make it out of Q1 as
I had no choice but to go out on a set of used and cold tyres after the
red flag, so it was probably one of the best laps I’ve ever done in that
situation to make it cleanly into Q2. On the other hand, in Q2 I made
some mistakes and experienced front locking in a few corners that lost
me one or two tenths, and it just wasn’t good enough. We know it's tough
to overtake in Monaco but we’re not too far from the top 10, so I’ll
focus on having a good start and do my best to get back into the
points."
James Vowles Team Principal:
"Qualifying in Monaco always brings excitement, and this year was no
different. We saw exceptional qualifying from both drivers. With Carlos
in Q1 it really was down to one lap with cold tyres, and he did a
fantastic lap. Alex put it right on the limit in Q2, we're just missing
a few milliseconds to get both cars into Q3. It was small, small details
that may or may not have pushed us there, but across three races at very
different tracks now we've been either in Q3 or knocking on the door of
Q3 and that’s significant progress. I'm looking forward to the race
tomorrow. There's still opportunity from where we are on the grid – two
cars lined up ready to go.
I also want to say well done to the
team. If you look at our car today, you'll notice significant
differences in the rear wing area. That was work that was reacted to
very quickly and delivered within around 18 hours. And that's
exceptional, from aero development, stress work, production to on car.
It just shows a willingness to find every millisecond and we will keep
hunting it every week.
Separately I wish Fred
Vasseur all the best in terms of recovery, and hopefully I get to catch
up with him soon."
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