Motorsport TechnologyThe Williams Racing F1 team, partnered by Acronis, suffered mixed fortunes during Saturday’s qualifying session for the French Grand Prix, Alexander Albon making it into Q2 whilst Nicholas Latifi’s final lap was compromised by strong cross winds.
For the impressive Albon, it marks yet another occasion where the popular Anglo-Thai driver has made it into Q2. And after several near misses of finishing just outside of the points, there is optimism that he can replicate his form of Melbourne and Miami on Sunday.
“The team are doing a good job and have come up with a really different package, so we really are fighting towards Q2 which is exactly where we want to be Starting P13 puts us in a good place for tomorrow so let’s see what we can do from there,” commented Albon in his team’s press release.
All to play for tomorrow 👊#WeAreWilliams #FrenchGP @alex_albon pic.twitter.com/XhyfkqnfBu
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 23, 2022
Encouragingly for the midfield battle, it means that Albon starts ahead of the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly, Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo of Zhou and the Haas of Mick Schumacher.
For teammate Latifi it was another case of what might have been, the unfortunate Canadian wondering what he must do for a run of luck in his favour.
“We should have safely been through to Q2, but the wind picked up for my final lap and I lost a lot of time,” reflected Latifi. “I was progressively chipping away, so I should have been around eight tenths quicker than the time I did, but it all went away from the chicane onwards; I lost all the grip. The pace was there in the car and there are clear signs of improvement with the upgrade.”
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.
It's critical that we have access to data wherever we are in the world 🌍
Performance Engineer Andrew Vizard explains how @Acronis help us remain #CyberFit as we travel the globe ✈️ pic.twitter.com/7VA2WmnBRa
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 6, 2022
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 https://www.acronis.com/en-us/lp/msp-sports/
Craig Scarborough
Fraser Masefield