Alex Albon driving Williams FW44 in Bahrain (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
According to its driver Alex Albon, Williams winter F1 has taken a considerable step after coming second only to Aston Martin. The Williams winter F1 driver said that the car racer has massively improved its performance and was ready to compete against the opposition. Popularly known as the Grove squad, they suffered many consequences in 2022. Heavily because of the dynamics of the car then. Williams's racing cars suffered from low downforce and poor low-speed balance.
Fast forward to 2023, they have made huge changes to the new FW45 providing a more stable performance compared to 2022. With the new improvements to the racing car, Alex Albon could bank a point in 10th in the season-opener in Bahrain. The increase in performance also allowed his rookie teammate to make an impressive start to the season. Logan Sargeant, who's still new to the competition, was able to pull off a 12th.
The new team principal James Vowles says Williams is still invested in improving the car. The team principal said they don't mind sacrificing the awards they might win in 2023 for the long-term development of the F1 car. However, Alex Albon still thinks that even without any other improvements, the new FW45 could still perform at a high level. According to the F1 driver, the new FW45 car will allow them to score better points in the coming races.
"I believe so. I wouldn’t have said so coming into [Bahrain] but after, who knows anymore. We qualified out of position. We should have qualified higher up, in my opinion. It would have made our race a lot easier. But that’s progress. I don’t want to be overly optimistic, but saying that as well, the flipside, I know we’ve got some stuff for the next couple of races that can really push us forwards," Alex Albon said.
Pointing Out Weaknesses
Alex Albon was quick to point out some of the weaknesses which Williams F1 was still facing whenever they were racing. However, he noted that with the upcoming upgrades on the car, they expect that many of these problems will be fixed. Albon said they would try to learn the Williams F1 car, find its weaknesses, and build on its strengths.
Source: GP Fans
"We need to assess our weaknesses, that’s the main thing. We know in terms of downforce level where there are advantages. We have kind of a different character to most people - We are slippery on the straights and less quick on the corners. But we’re making it work and I think we’ve got to do what’s good for our car right now," the driver said.
Albon also noted that upgrading all the characteristic problems in Williams F1 might take a bit longer. But they were taking on the short-term issues while ensuring that long-term problems were suppressed.
"We still need to dial out some characteristic problems - that will possibly take a little bit longer. But for now, in the short term, we know where we can improve. There’s lap time there. We’re quick and stable," Albon said. With the massive improvements going on with Williams F1, it seems its future is looking to be sorted out for the long term.