Williams impresses with race pace in Mexico as Albon just misses out

The Williams Racing F1 team, partnered by Acronis, once again proved that it is making steady progress relative to the competition after an encouraging showing in Mexico City.

Although the team has struggled with its single lap qualifying pace over recent races, that’s certainly not to show the big picture come race day. Alexander Albon and teammate Nicholas Latifi qualified down in 17th and 18th on the grid when the lights went out and the team decided to split strategy with Latifi on the hards and Albon on the medium compound Pirelli tyres.

Whilst it soon became apparent that the hards were not the way to go, a medium to soft strategy for Albon allowed the Anglo-Thai driver to advance through the field and battle with the Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo cars that started much higher on the grid, including with Valtteri Bottas who started the race from 6th position.

“Honestly, I’m really happy with today and it feels like our pace was relatively strong from where it was on Friday,” commented Albon after the race.

“We had a tricky start so we dropped to 19th and despite a few retirements, we overtook everyone else, so I think it was a good race from us. It was a thermal race with the dirty air making the brakes hot and then the tyres hot, so we did well with our strategy to find the gaps of clean air.

“It was really close today and I’m feeling good with a lot of positives to take away. I think we’re getting better at solving the weaknesses in the car and at a circuit that doesn’t suit us we were able to set up the car and compete with those around us.”

Next up for Williams Racing is a trip to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks time, with the team confident of a return to the points subject to a more solid Saturday outing.

“Following a frustrating day yesterday (Saturday), we can be very pleased with how we performed today,” commented Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance. “Racing in Mexico City is always challenging but we were able to get the car into a pretty good place such that it was easily managed and had good pace relative to our competitors.

“To finish so close to the Alfa Romeo which qualified 6th, especially after a tricky race start, was very satisfying but also hints at what might have been possible with a better grid position.”

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 and to become a part of this exciting #TeamUp programme, please visit Cyber Protection for global sports – Acronis

Williams Racing.
Spanish Grand Prix, Friday 20th May 2022. Barcelona, Spain.

Fraser Masefield

Sports news and features writer, web editor and author.