Alex Albon chasing third straight top 10 finish: “Baku has a nice and familiar rhythm”. Alex Albon targets his third consecutive top 10 in Baku after strong results in Zandvoort and Monza.

Williams behind the big teams

While McLaren could already seal the Constructors’ Championship fight this weekend in Baku, the real battle from now on looks set to be for the runner-up spot, involving Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. Behind these three giants sits Williams in fifth place, still comfortably in double figures and enjoying a true revival after years of disappointing results that had plunged the team into crisis.

Albon aiming for more points?

At the moment, the British team has 86 points, holding a 24-point advantage over Aston Martin. That margin widened after Monza, where Aston Martin suffered a double retirement while Alex Albon secured seventh place. After finishing fifth in the Netherlands and then scoring again at Monza’s ‘Temple of Speed’, the Thai-British driver is now chasing his third consecutive top 10 finish. “We come to Baku with good momentum after a really positive return from the summer break,” Alex Albon said. “I enjoy driving here, it’s a circuit with a nice and familiar rhythm, but it requires constant work across the whole weekend to be fully prepared for qualifying. This track also offers good overtaking opportunities, so our plan will be to maximize both Saturday and Sunday, while continuing to fight for fifth place in the championship.”

Sainz looking to bounce back

Carlos Sainz is also desperate to return to the points. The Spaniard was involved in late drama at Baku last year, colliding with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull just two laps from the finish while battling for a podium. He now seeks redemption not only for that incident in 2024 but also for the misfortune of Monza, where his race was ruined by contact with Oliver Bearman. “Baku is one of those very unpredictable circuits where the race always offers plenty of opportunities,” explained the number 55. “Since Canada I haven’t been back in the top 10, apart from the Sprint in Belgium, so we’ve been working hard to better understand how our car behaves with the tyres in different conditions. It will be interesting to see what improvements we can bring in terms of consistency in qualifying. We know we have the right pace, so we’ll try to make the most of it!”