Williams driver Alex Albon has praised the role his car and team played in securing a P7 finish at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix.
Albon started ninth and managed to go two places better as he successfully held off Esteban Ocon and several other cars throughout the race – despite not having DRS.
The Thai-Brit’s performance with the upgraded Williams package earned him the coveted ‘Driver of the Day’ award, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, on a very encouraging weekend for the Grove team.
Albon made no mistakes and consistently maximised his exit-speed from the Turn 10 hairpin to give his FW45 the launch out of the corner it needed, offsetting the DRS gains that Ocon received down the long back straight of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and into Turn 1.
Williams and their great car
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without a good car,” Albon said to the media after the Canadian GP. “Honestly speaking, we had a great car and I can’t thank the team enough.
“In the last two weeks I’ve been at the factory quite a lot with James [Vowles] and I can’t tell you how much of a partnership we’ve got.”
The points for the Williams team are the first they’ve earned in Canada since the 2017 race and is their largest haul of points since the 2021 Belgian GP when George Russell secured P2 in the cancelled race and almost eclipsed their entire total in the 2022 season.
Whilst his teammate, Logan Sargeant, had an engine failure, the upgrades have appeared to place the team closer to the midfield fight to the point of being able to hold off Alpines as the team looks to continue progressing forwards in Formula 1.
