Alex Albon has urged Williams to reconsider its qualifying strategies after missing out on the final part of qualifying for Formula 1‘s British Grand Prix.
The Anglo-Thai driver was on course to steer his FW47 into Q3 at Silverstone, after running competitively in Q1, ensuring a promising grid position for his and the team’s home race.
But a decision to send Albon out earlier than necessary for his second run saw him unable to find an optimal window to produce a quick enough lap, seeing him line up a meagre 13th.
After qualifying, Albon told media including Motorsport Week that the team needs to “review” its planning during qualifying sessions, believing its current practices are detrimental to his progress.
“Yes, I think internally we need to review what went on there,” he said, “because we put on a set of tyres when Franco crashed and then we went out on track when it was quite clear it was going to be a red flag.
“So we immediately wasted a set in qualifying. We went into Q2 – run 1 – on a used set of tyres. Until this point we’re looking good, we’re feeling good.
“I’d actually do a pretty good lap in Q2 run 1 considering it’s used tyres. And then we go into Q2 run 2 and we then go out at the very front of the pack where Max’s outlap is about 15, 20 seconds a lap slower than ours.
“So we then do Q2 run 2 on our final used set, basically not even close to being ready. Q2 was honestly compromised, let’s say that.
“We need to review, we generally do go on the early sides in qualifying, we like to go on the early sides.
“Today was too much, we need to understand why we like to go so early all the time.”
Albon: Williams has ‘good car’ but ‘out of position’
Albon’s frustration was maximised by the knowledge the FW47 is evidently fast around Silverstone, deepening the irritation of truncating a good result in the race.
Team-mate Carlos Sainz did not fare much better, ending the day in 11th, but being afforded 10th after Oliver Bearman’s 10-place grid penalty.
“I mean we’ve been quick all weekend and we were quick in Q1, we were quick in Q2 run 1 and then it’s like, yeah, P14. So, frustrating, very frustrating,” concluded Albon.
When asked if he can do a job from his modest grid position, Albon did not rule it out, but was clouded by frustration.
“We can do okay from there,” he said. “At the minute I’m just frustrated because we should not be P13. Let’s see. We have a good car and we’re out of position.”
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