The Canadian illusion
After both drivers finished outside the points in the Spanish Grand Prix, Williams arrived in Canada not only motivated to get back into the top 10 but also encouraged by promising signs from the first practice session. Not by chance, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished second and third respectively in FP1, with the Anglo-Thai driver qualifying 9th. However, Albon had to retire during the race.
Stopped by the PU
After a dangerous off-track excursion following a battle with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Albon retired due to a Mercedes power unit problem, as he confirmed after the race: “It was a frustrating day,” he commented. “We retired because of the PU issue, but the race was already over for us. I struggled on the first lap and then we tried to make a stop, but with the graining it was really hard to manage the tires. Sometimes you can work around the problem, but not this time. Race strategy is usually one of our strengths, but we struggled and it’s not the team’s fault, but we weren’t up to it, so we’ll reflect and come back stronger next time.”
Carlos Sainz scores points, but…
The small consolation for Williams, who still holds fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, came from Carlos Sainz’s tenth place, bringing home one point after a tough Sunday also for the Spaniard: “It was nice to score at least one point, but I’m quite frustrated because I spent the whole race managing a problem, so I couldn’t even race properly,” admitted the former Ferrari driver. “We did a good job to bring the car home and save a point, but as a team, we need to avoid these situations. This weekend we didn’t show our full potential for one reason or another, and with such a tight field, this obviously affects the final result. We will reorganize and come back in Europe in a couple of weeks.”
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