Alex Albon was full of enthusiasm for his Williams team’s efforts over the winter after a hard-fought points-scoring finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The London-born Thai made it through to the second qualifying session on Saturday but was ultimately eliminated in 15th, but some tremendous battling in Sakhir saw him finish 10th.
Following a similar pattern from last season, Williams took a lot of downforce off the car to help it compete on the straight, and it seemed to do the trick once more for Albon, who scored points in the opening race of the season for the first time in his career.
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“It was actually a really tough race,” he said. “The win I think made the cars, I think for everyone, much more disconnected than yesterday. And especially when we were running low downforce, it makes it even trickier.
“So, to have the pace we had under the circumstances, I have to say I’m super proud. I’m sure everyone’s looking at the Aston Martin right now on the podium thinking about what they’ve done, but we’re second.
“When you look at us this year compared to last year in this position – 12 months on – I have to say we’ve done an amazing job. Of course we’re reliable – that helps – but we got points in the first race.”
When asked if he thinks appearances in the top 10 can become a more familiar result for the British side, Albon said “I believe so. I wouldn’t have said so coming into this weekend but, after this weekend, who knows anymore? We qualified out of position; we should have qualified higher up in my opinion. It would have made our race a lot easier today but that’s progress.
“I’m excited but I don’t want to be overly optimistic. But saying that as well, on the flip side, I know we’ve got some stuff for the next couple of races that can really push us forward, so we’ll see.”
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