Williams drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin praised the team’s improvements as both made it through to Q2 in Azerbaijan – with Stroll almost making it into the top 10 shootout.
Williams is the only team yet to score a point in 2018, with Stroll taking a best race result of 14th, but the squad’s fortunes took an upturn around the streets of Baku.
Stroll qualified in 11th position – and came close to a spot in Q3 – while Sirotkin recovered from a hefty crash at Turn 3 in practice to grab 12th spot.
Both drivers will move up one position on the grid due to the five-place demotion incurred by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg for an unscheduled gearbox change.
“I am really happy with that,” said Stroll. “We have obviously made a step forward this weekend compared to the last couple of events.
“It was such a difficult qualifying with the yellow flags in Q1 and I never did a lap until the last second on old tyres, so I was lucky to scrape through, and then happy with my lap in Q2.
“This track has a bit of everything – high speed, low speed, walls, drama – so it is a good one.
“It would be nice to see more tracks like this, as it really tightens things up a little bit and we see other cars that normally don't have any problems getting out of Q2, starting to struggle.”
Sirotkin praised his Williams mechanics for a “perfect” repair job in the wake of his earlier accident.
“We knew there was potential from the session earlier today,” said Sirotkin.
“I need to thank the team a lot as they were really flat out, doing a perfect job to make sure we got out on track. I’m very happy that I can thank them with a result like this.
“I still feel like there’s a bit more lap time. I’m not sure if it would be enough for Q3, but it would be much closer than where we are.
“We’re moving forwards, we’re making progress and doing a great job. Now we see that in the results. Thanks to everyone for this and we’ll keep improving.”
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