Alex Albon says Williams are coming into the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix feeling intrigued rather than pessimistic, following promising weekends at downforce-priority tracks.
Williams have a reputation for being strong on power-reliant circuits and weaker on high-downforce circuits, but the Grove outfit has managed to somewhat exceed expectations with good performances in Australia, the Netherlands and Hungary.
“I think we are getting this car to work better and better in not just this kind of Monza-kind of circuits,” Albon told the press ahead of the Singapore GP. “I do think we we are opening the envelope but it’s still, in some ways, a tight envelope; it’s just growing a little bit.
“We’re coming into this weekend. I think more… Well, we’d not we would normally be very pessimistic. We’re a bit more intrigued, actually, just to see where we’re going to be.
“I don’t think we’re going to be that competitive, truthfully speaking. But I think there’s a lot of optimism and interest in ‘Well let’s see if we can get this car to go well here because if we can get it to go well here, we should be good around anywhere’.”
Albon’s advice for Logan Sargeant
Albon is no stranger to a difficult season in Formula 1, enduring a tough 2020 campaign that saw him lose his Red Bull drive and a seat on the F1 grid for 2021.
Teammate Logan Sargeant‘s seat is not confirmed for 2024 and it is reported that Mick Schumacher, who currently serves as Mercedes‘ reserve driver, is being linked to the team.
“I think firstly, it’s a tricky one because you’re now at this part of the year where you’re going to street tracks and tracks he’s never been before,” Albon added.
“I think for Logan, it’s just about keeping his head down. I think there’s there’s always a lot of talk, you guys [the press] are part of that. So it’s really just having that mental strength to get through that tricky phase.”
Expressing sympathy to Sargeant, who is yet to finish ahead of Albon in a race that they have both finished, the senior Williams driver said his teammate’s potential is there in the data.
“I think every rookie goes through ups and downs,” Albon continued. “And it’s just how you get through them if you can recover from them.
“He’s definitely got pace and I think, you know, when we’re looking at data together, it’s often just one corner or something or just a mistake, or something like that and it just puts him out of position relative to myself.
“But I have no doubt he’s gonna find that rhythm, once he gets into the rhythm and has a strong weekend it will just snowball, what’s the opposite of a snowball? The positivity spirals in a good way.”
