Albon’s team radio after his premature Q1 exit in Suzuka qualifying was highly cryptic: was it an affront to the team or simple self-criticism?
Williams’ start to the season has certainly been disappointing and qualifying for the Suzuka GP is yet another demonstration of this. Sixteenth position for Carlos Sainz, seventeenth for his teammate, Alexander Albon, who appeared quite frustrated following his elimination in Q1.
The Thai driver has not experienced the best start to the season imaginable and, between reliability problems and a general lack of pace, he still finds himself without points, compared to his teammate’s 2. The collective imagination suggested a much more competitive Williams compared to the level expressed so far, but Albon himself does not seem to have much feeling with the Grove team’s car.
After the exit in Q1, the former Red Bull driver was unable to contain his nervousness. After asking his track engineer in which sectors he was slower than Carlos Sainz, he responded with a cryptic phrase…
James Urwin: “You probably don’t want to know [in which sectors you were slower, ed.], but you can try to guess”
Alexander Albon: “Yeah, I’ve been complaining for 3 races in a row that there’s something wrong, but surely it’s just my driving style”
A phrase that might have been dictated simply by a moment of discouragement, but which seemed like an affront to the team…
Photos: Atlassian Williams F1 Team
