(Motorsport-Total.com) – The Austrian Grand Prix was the next severe setback for Williams in an otherwise disappointing season. Alexander Albon finished only 17th, while teammate Carlos Sainz retired early due to a technical defect.
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Above all, the race pace made clear how big the team’s problems have become: On average, Williams was more than two and a half seconds per lap slower than the front. Cadillac driver Sergio Perez was able to overtake Albon’s Williams on track before his retirement.
Accordingly, Albon appeared dejected in front of the microphones after the race. The Thai let his emotions run free when he was informed about a possible investigation due to yellow flags. “We are slow. Very, very, very slow. The tire degradation is huge. We are simply not fast enough,” was the assessment.
When asked if the possible investigation by the race stewards concerned him, he answered almost indifferently: “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t care.” His response was even more sobering when asked if Williams could at least take away insights from the race. “Not really.”
Then follows a short sentence that reflected the entire frustration of the weekend. “That honestly hurts.”
“We have dug our own grave”
Besides the lack of performance, Albon was especially annoyed by Saturday’s qualifying. There, Williams had already failed in Q1. In retrospect, the 30-year-old made it clear that the team also made its own mistakes. “Between the second and third attempt in Q1, changes were made to the car that I didn’t know about.”
This was not meant as a reproach to individual team members. “That happens.” Nevertheless, Albon believes communication could have been better. “Maybe we just should have communicated better which changes were made to the car. Unfortunately, we have dug our own grave with that.”
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That Williams currently does not even benefit from the new overtaking system was underlined by Albon afterwards with a sarcastic remark. When pointed out that overtaking has become more difficult in Austria without the classic DRS, he responded dryly.
“Really? People passed me quite easily.”
Silverstone should bring the turnaround
However, Williams’ real concern goes far beyond a single race weekend. Albon currently sees his team far from the actual goal. “The small update for Silverstone will not suddenly bring us into the midfield.”
At least he hopes for a first small step. “Maybe it will bring us closer to Haas.” More is hardly realistic at the moment. “Today we were even lapped by the Racing Bulls. We are still quite far away.”
Carlos Sainz also speaks of a difficult overall picture after his retirement. Although Williams made progress through setup changes before the race. “We had a significantly better pace today than in practice.” This allowed him to fight opponents he had not expected before.
“I was able to race against Audi, Alpine, and Haas and keep them behind me.” However, a defect in the power unit ended his race. “Suddenly the car just completely shut down.” Nevertheless, Sainz does not want to overestimate the improvements. “We shouldn’t fool ourselves.”
The positive impressions should only be seen relative to the current situation. “Our performance is simply very poor at the moment.” His assessment is therefore similarly ruthless as that of his teammate. “We lack reliability, pace, and a car with which we can fight for points.”
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