Formula 1

Albon makes a point for Williams Racing in Melbourne

Fraser Masefield
11 Apr 2022
4 min read

The Williams Racing F1 team, partnered by Acronis, secured its opening point of the 2022 F1 season at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

And it was new recruit Alexander Albon who got the ball rolling, a mature and patient drive punctuated by a bold one-stop race strategy, brave overtakes and a dramatic late retirement from defending champion Max Verstappen helping the Anglo-Thai driver bag his first point.

“I am very pleased with how today went,” commented Alon. “We came in this morning, looked at our race predictions starting from last and felt pretty sad, so to end Sunday with a point is extremely rewarding. It was a race where we took risks and really allowed our tyres to get into a nice window, and from then they just felt better and better.

“I was putting in what felt like continuous qualifying laps for the last 25 laps of the race! For me, it really highlights the work that’s been done at the factory and at the track; this is the result of the team’s determination and motivation. It’s been a great day and I’m really happy to have played my part in this for the team.”

Things did not look overly rosy for the team after a tough qualifying session left the team’s two drivers 18th and 20th (Albon) on the grid respectively. What it did mean was that the team was able to experiment with a split strategy for the drivers, starting Albon on the hard Pirelli tyre and running a substantial 56 laps, whilst Nicholas Latifi pitted twice, taking his final set of tyres closer to the finish.

“Alex drove brilliantly today and found a sweet spot on the Prime tyre, which gave him good pace and, crucially, much less degradation than many other cars,” commented Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance. “He completed a very long stint and we ignored several opportunities to pit under safety cars, hoping that something might happen to allow us to keep as many of the gains as possible.

“In the end, the degradation of cars behind and difficulty in overtaking gave us a small opportunity to run until the very end and pull a gap big enough for a pitstop. Under huge pressure, the pit crew were very good, and Alex was quick enough on the out-lap to secure tenth place. After the ups and down of the previous two days, this was an excellent result for the entire team.”

READ ALSO: Williams Racing relishing challenge of Albert Park Circuit

Whilst the long stop strategy worked well for Albon, Latifi was just shy of the points, finishing an encouraging 13th after making it to the chequered flag. Nevertheless, the result was a positive one for the races to come.

“To get a point early in the season is good for the team and I’m extremely happy for everyone – the team deserved this,” added Jost Capito, CEO & Team Principal. “We’ve had a difficult start to the season, and even yesterday was difficult, but that’s the good thing about racing – things can change on the Sunday and it’s not over until it’s over. If you keep pushing and always stay motivated, keep the team alive and believing in itself, then fortunes can change.”

TEAM UP WITH ACRONIS

Prominent once again on the nose of the car and on the front wing endplates 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, 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 https://www.acronis.com/en-us/lp/msp-sports/

Fraser Masefield

Sports news and features writer, web editor and author.

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