Albon Races On Despite F1's Ongoing Part Shortage

Facing a severe parts shortage, Alex Albon remains undeterred as he prepares for the upcoming F1 race in China.

Despite Williams F1’s challenges with logistics and parts, Alex Albon doesn’t want to be distracted behind the wheel. The Thai driver feels that if he thought about such issues while racing, he shouldn’t be on the track.

“To be entirely honest, I would say that you race without really thinking about it,” admits Albon. “It’s obviously there, but as soon as you start thinking about the lack of parts, or lack of anything, you’d better stay home.”

“You have to approach the weekend like any other. You can’t treat it differently. You need to be at the limit to feel what the limit is, and you have to find a balance for the car. It’s one of those where you have to block your mind and just race normally.”

Albon thinks opportunities might arise this weekend: “I hope the leading teams will be less prepared and need more time to get ready. The smaller teams can capitalize on this, and we’ve done a lot of work in the simulator, so we’ll see how it goes.”

“Accidents happen, and I haven’t thought too much about the crash. For this weekend, the main thing to note is the huge effort the team has made to get the cars ready, to have the parts ready, and this weekend is an opportunity.”

“And it’s very, very important, especially approaching a sprint race, with all the possibilities of what can happen this weekend, you want to be as prepared as possible. Races like this, where there is so much unknown, are an opportunity for teams like ours.”

Williams might suffer from a lack of parts and the time lost in making replacements, but the driver doesn’t want to think about that at the moment: “I’m focusing on the present. I don’t think it will affect us too much.”

“We understand our car well, we’re still learning a lot, but we’re coming into the fifth race and we have a good feel for it. There are consequences, some delays, but that’s how it is. And in Melbourne, we were in a position to score points, so it could be the case here too.”

Sargeant can’t be too cautious

Logan Sargeant will be discovering the Shanghai circuit for the first time: “I think it’s an unknown. We come here without me having driven here before, it’s a big step for me. And it’s the same for the team because the last time here was with the old car, and the track has changed, so there are a lot of things to manage.”

“But having a Sprint weekend is an opportunity, and it’s good to be able to tweak the car before qualifying. We hope to get into a good position, the field should be tight and everything will still be decided by a few tenths.”

He also admits that it’s hard to be too cautious despite the lack of spare parts: “We have two cars but no spare chassis. We have to be… you might say cautious, but at the same time, in this position, you need to be committed. But I want a good weekend, a clean weekend and to achieve a good result.”

The American, however, praises the progress of his team: “Japan didn’t go as we wanted but it was a good step forward. Especially on Sunday, we had a chance to do well, even though it didn’t happen. But we will try to do even better here.”