Williams faced two different scenarios in qualifying this Saturday (12) at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1. While Alexander Albon managed to advance to Q2, Carlos Sainz remained in Q1.
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The Anglo-Thai driver managed to advance from the first phase of qualifying and when he went for his last fast lap, the tires were not in the window and he ended up in 16th place. Speaking about the session, he celebrated the fact that he passed Q1.
“I’m happy to have advanced to Q2 today, after a difficult weekend so far. I started this session at a disadvantage, having done few laps — especially on a track like Madrid, where you need a lot of mileage to get into rhythm,” he said.
“We changed some parts on the car and, fortunately, that worked and allowed us to get past Q1, which is an achievement given all the difficulties we faced. Tomorrow will be a challenge, as it is not a track conducive to overtaking, but we will do our best to achieve a good result,” he continued.
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Meanwhile, the Spaniard had a much more complicated day than his teammate and will start only from 20th position after also having hindered Valtteri Bottas during F1 qualifying in Madrid.
“It was a good lap, but a somewhat troubled qualifying overall, with several problems that cost us precious tenths in the end. We knew we would have difficulties on this track, but we also went out too early for the final attempt — losing the advantage of track evolution — and suffered from electric power losses (deployment) that prevented us from reaching Q2. I apologize to Valtteri for having hindered his lap; I didn’t know he was coming at a fast pace and didn’t have time to get out of the way,” he said.
“On the positive side, it has been very fun to drive on this track in qualifying pace; I’m enjoying driving so close to the walls and always on the limit. It has been amazing to feel the support of the fans throughout the weekend, and it is a dream come true to race here in front of the home crowd. Tomorrow, overtaking will be difficult, but we will do our best to climb the field and give the fans reasons to celebrate,” he concluded.
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