Williams F1 Struggles in Qatar

Williams F1 endured a challenging day in Qatar, with Albon and Colapinto failing to secure points and facing tough race prospects.

Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto finished without points in the Sprint, placing 15th and 18th respectively.

Hopes were higher for Albon in qualifying, but the Thai driver could only manage 16th fastest.

“We weren’t quick enough today and struggled all weekend. Teams like Alpine and Stake made gains, so we’ve fallen a bit behind. We made good changes between the Sprint and qualifying, but it wasn’t enough. We were also caught out by the wind at the end of our qualifying lap. Tomorrow, we’ll try to learn and do the best we can, but overtaking is tough here, so we’ll see what we can achieve.”

Franco Colapinto, driving a FW46 fitted with the older suspension due to recent crashes, worked to salvage the weekend. He avoided last place, setting the 19th fastest time ahead of Ocon and two tenths behind his teammate.

“It wasn’t easy to drive our F1 today, and we struggled with balance in qualifying, making things very challenging. We changed the suspension in Parc Fermé, meaning we didn’t get a chance to do a low-fuel run with this setup, and we paid the price a bit.

We also made a few adjustments after the Sprint, but they might not have been entirely in the right direction. It’s a shame because the gaps were very close, but our long-run pace yesterday was strong, so we’ll focus on pushing tomorrow and see how it goes.”