Albon ‘excited for Monza’ as Williams Racing hunts for more points in Italy

The Williams Racing Formula One team, partnered by Acronis, has high hopes of adding to its points tally as the season moves onto the iconic Monza circuit for the Italian Grand Prix.

Dubbed the ‘Temple of Speed’, Monza is an annual favourite for fans and drivers alike. The low downforce circuit requires a unique test of man and machine as Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance, explains.

“Whilst Monza shares some characteristics with Spa, it is still a very different track that requires a very different approach,” said Robson in his team’s press release. “Low drag is clearly important, but the corners cannot be underestimated and there is only so much downforce that can be removed to sensibly achieve a competitive drag level.

“We have a good baseline from Spa, and we’ll use Friday to experiment with some alternative rear wing options to see how far we can reasonably lower the drag level.

“The tyre compounds are the same as we raced in Spa, but the behaviour will be different with the left-hand tyres in particular exposed to high stress in Monza. All three compounds could be viable race tyres, and with overtaking a little easier in Monza than at Zandvoort, there could be a range of strategies at play on Sunday.”

Having netted his third points scoring return of the season in Belgium and narrowly missing out in Zandvoort, Alexander Albon is hopeful that the characteristics of Monza could suit the Williams FW44.

“I’m excited for Monza, especially after a good couple week’s where the team has made further progress, fine tuning the current package on the car,” added Albon. “This circuit has similar characteristics to Spa, so I think we can take some learnings from that weekend and hit the ground running.”

Likewise, teammate Nicholas Latifi is confident that the next round of racing could well pay dividends for the famous Williams Racing team.

“The new generation of cars will present a unique challenge as it will probably be the lowest downforce anyone will have ever run with them to try to optimise the straight-line speed, which has tended to suit our car better at similar tracks this season,” said Latifi.

“Hopefully that’s the same this weekend and we can have a strong one.”

Nicholas Latifi (CDN) Williams Racing. Dutch Grand Prix, Sunday 4th September 2022. Zandvoort, Netherlands.

TEAM UP WITH ACRONIS

Prominent once again on the nose of the car and on the front wing endplates this season are the team’s official cyber protection partner Acronis. Williams Racing uses Acronis technology to add extra layers of protection to its IT infrastructure, protecting hundreds of servers and endpoint devices.

During the 2021 season and continuing this year, Acronis opened up an exciting #TeamUp Program, giving new and existing service providers the opportunity to support sports partnerships, join the sports ecosystem, attend races and enjoy amazing sports marketing benefits. To find out more, please visit Cyber Protection for global sports – Acronis

Motorsport Technology