After the F1 Australian Grand Prix, there were happy faces at the Williams Racing team. Alex Albon managed to start last and still take a point in the race at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. The team opted for a bold tire strategy and it seemed to work well for Albon who finished the race in P10.
Nicholas Latifi’s race was more difficult, the Canadian wrote P16 behind his name as the end result.
Jost Capito, CEO and Team Principal: Getting a point early in the season is good for the team and I’m really happy for everyone – the team deserved it. We’ve had a tough start to the season and even yesterday was tough, but that’s the good thing about racing – things can change on Sunday and it’s not over until it’s over. If you keep pushing and always stay motivated, keep the team alive and believe in themselves, then fate can change.
Alex Albon: I’m really happy with how it went today. We came in this morning, looked at our feeling pretty sad that we had to start from last place. So to finish Sunday with a point is extremely rewarding. It was a race where we took risks and our tires held up well and from then on they just felt better and better. I ran what felt like continuous qualifying laps for the last 25 laps of the race! For me it really highlights the work that has been done in the factory and on the track; this is the result of the determination and motivation of the team. It was a great day and I am very happy to have played my part in this for the team.
Nicholas Latifi: It was definitely a tough race, but we expected that after the fuel-heavy FP2 we did. It seemed that we had a lot of trouble with the tires to keep them in optimal condition. There was a lot going on with multiple safety cars and Virtual Safety Car periods. It was great to see Alex finish in P10 in the end and I’m super happy for the whole team. It was a difficult start to the season and there is still a lot to be found on my side. If Alex can get that performance out of the FW44, there’s no reason we couldn’t in the other car. We will now spend a lot of time looking through the data and understanding how to make it work.