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Williams had a solid Saturday in Hungary, but can they do even more on Sunday?
As far as qualifying sessions go, Saturday’s performance from the team at Williams was a solid effort. Both Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon advanced into Q2, and while they could not move on from there the duo is set to start in P14 and P13 respectively, giving the team a chance at moving into the points on Sunday.
Still, both drivers believe Saturday could have been better.
Both Albon and Sargeant noted that the traffic on the track posed a significant problem, with Sargeant in particular venting his frustrations over the radio as his qualifying session came to a close. While the American driver had calmed somewhat when he offered his assessment of the session, you could still hear the frustration in his words.
“It was an eventful Qualifying. I was really happy with the first lap I did when it was spitting a bit of rain. I wasn’t so happy with my mistake on the second lap, and I must say a big thanks to the team for doing a great job to get the car turned around to go back out again,” said Sargeant.
“We had a lot more pace in it in Q2, but I had dirty air in every sector with people staying in front of you longer than they need to and putting dirty air on your front wing,” added the American driver. “There are tenths in that around this track so it’s excessively detrimental here, especially with the overheating you get. I’m disappointed for myself and for the team as I know we had a lot more in it today, but we’ll move on and fight tomorrow.”
Sargeant referenced a spin in Q1 that could have been costly, but the team in the garage did a fantastic job at getting his FW46 ready to continue.
On the other side of the garage, Albon also noted some of the traffic issues, and the “battle for clean air” all the drivers faced on Saturday.
“There was definitely more in it today; I got caught in dirty air for most of Q2 and as I was starting my lap, others were on their outlaps, so it was difficult with the traffic. You need everything to align around here, and we didn’t get the most out of it today, so it’s frustrating. It’s going to be a long race tomorrow with the degradation being quite high as we’ve seen from the F2 and F3 races, so there will be a lot of pit stops and just the battle for clean air which is vital around this circuit,” described Albon. “It’s frustrating to finish the day like this but we’ll work with what we’ve got tomorrow.”
Williams Sporting Director Sven Smeets praised both drivers for their work, noting that the team should be in the fight on Sunday.
“The weather made Qualifying a bit more exciting than what many expected today. Light rain on and off made it hard to read the track conditions, but the best moments were probably at the start and end of Q1. Logan’s first timed lap was mega, and this would be enough to move into Q2 whereas Alex made it through with a great lap right at the end,” said Smeets. “Unfortunately, in Q2 we didn’t get it all right for the push lap, finding too much traffic around the track but both cars are in a good position to fight for points tomorrow. Tyre management, pitstops and finding clean air will be crucial tomorrow as the temperatures should pick up again.”
At the moment Williams sits ninth in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship standings with four points, five points behind eighth-place Alpine.
Can they find a way to chip into that lead tomorrow?
