Alexander Albon believes Williams was largely matching McLaren’s pace in Austria as it got a full race distance under its belt with the updated package.
Albon ran a Medium/Hard/Hard strategy and emerged in contention for the top 10, before ultimately falling to 12th in the closing stages, just six seconds behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
It marked the first full race distance for Williams’ upgraded package, which was introduced onto Albon’s car at Silverstone, where he was eliminated on the opening lap.
“We took risks, we were bold and I had to push a little bit too hard on the tyres to keep up with Valtteri [Bottas] as he was a little bit quicker than us,” he said.
“I knew what I was doing wasn’t kind to the tyres but I was trying to stay close to him.
“You risk and you push to fight for points and it didn’t quite work out for us, but I still feel it was a good race.
“The whole race we were more or less matching the McLarens, we hit a bit of traffic here and there but I was really happy with our pace and we’ve definitely made a step forward this weekend.
“It was the first proper race with the new aero upgrade that we have and there’s a lot learnt from it so we can look at the data and come back stronger in France.”
Team-mate Nicholas Latifi was forced into retirement due to floor damage sustained after striking debris on the opening lap.
“Towards the end of the first stint I could feel the balance getting worse,” he said.
“Beginning of the second stint there was a lack of downforce and pace. The decision was to retire the car to save the engine mileage and we’ll be ready to go again In France.”
Latifi is set to receive the upgraded FW44 in France.
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