After qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Miami, the Williams Racing team was convinced that there was more in the pipeline. Alex Albon qualified in position 18 while team-mate Nicholas Latifi scored P19 behind his name.
Both drivers ran on the soft Pirelli tires and continued to improve throughout Q1, with Albon setting a time of 1:31.266 on his final lap, Latifi setting a time of 1:31.325
Miami F1 Grand Prix : Ferrari’s front row after thrilling qualifying + Result
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: Our week has been very up and down since FP1 and the behavior of the tires in the heat has been confusing leading to some big swings in pace and balance. On both cars we struggled to get the tires into a good window and hold them there for a full lap. Alex’s best sectors were good enough to challenge the two cars in front of us and if we had done everything perfectly for one lap he could have competed for Q2. Nicholas rode well today and built momentum over the two sessions and was able to push Alex really hard in Q1. As some of the better parts were only available to Alex this weekend, Nicholas’ pace was impressive and hopefully this sets him up for a strong race tomorrow.
Alex Albon: Today was frustrating and a little confusing. We missed something in qualifying and struggled to find the performance we had in the earlier practice sessions. As we’ve seen this season, the tires are incredibly sensitive and, combined with the heat here, it makes finding grip very difficult. We will go through the data tonight and come back stronger for the race tomorrow.
Nicholas Latifi: Obviously we’re not where we want to be as a team, but I think where I came from in FP1, I’m pretty happy with qualifying. There’s been a pretty big gap all weekend and I’ve struggled to get the feel I needed so I think we made the right changes from FP1 to get as good a feel as we felt . It’s still not perfect and I think there was still some time to win, but with the differences in the cars at the moment and the faster parts on Alex’s car, I was happy to finish where I finished.