Bull Fighter Performance by Alex in Austria
Alex Albon made good progress through the Red Bull Ring F1 Sprint and the Austrian Grand Prix to take a solid P12 for Williams Racing.
The Red Bull Ring hosted the second F1 Sprint of the Season, where Alex would start from P12 following Friday's Qualifying - after a strong performance saw him advance to make another Q2 appearance for the team.
An action-packed Sprint Race saw Alex overcome early challenges, with two Formation Laps required after problems for other cars, and a first corner clash that Alex did well at avoiding to keep in contention with the other midfield drivers.
Alex battled hard and crossed the finish line in P13, but was classified lower after a 5-second time penalty was added to his race for his involvement in an incident with McLaren’s Lando Norris when battling for position early on. This would mean he would start Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix from P16.
Sunday's Grand Prix saw Alex battled through the midfield to rise from 15th on the grid to finish P12 after a strong drive in the land of the bulls! Running inside the top-10 for the majoirty of the race.
Alex was challenging for another points paying position, as he got to enjoy the upgraded FW44 in full flow before two late passes from drivers on fresher tyres saw him take the Chequered Flag in P12, but with plenty of positives to take.
Alex Albon, Williams Racing Driver #23:
“It was a fun race. We took risks, we were bold and I had to push a little bit too hard on the tyres to keep up with Valtteri as he was a little bit quicker than us.
“I knew what I was doing wasn’t kind to the tyres but I was trying to stay close to him. You risk and you push to fight for points and today it didn’t quite work out for us, but I still feel it was a good race.
The whole race we were more or less matching the McLarens, we hit a bit of traffic here and there but I was really happy with our pace and we’ve definitely made a step forward this weekend."
“It was the first proper race with the new aero upgrade that we have and there’s a lot learnt from today so we can look at the data and come back stronger in France.”
Formula One heads to Le Castellet, Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix in two weeks time for the next round of the 2022 season.