In Austin, only one of the Williams drivers finished in the top ten, and it was not the experienced Alex Albon, but Franco Colapinto, who was driving only his fourth Grand Prix. Team manager James Vowles is very pleased with the work of the young Argentinian, but called the result of the 19th stage of the season ambiguous.
James Vowles: “The weekend was different for us. Until Sunday we could not handle the matter perfectly, so we could not count on points. But Franco ran the race just perfectly, and this was the result of the efforts of the entire team. We have earned a single but very important price point, and that will play a role in our dispute with Alpine for 8th place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Speaking of Alex’s race, it was ruined by an incident on the first lap when Valtteri Bottas crashed into his car from behind, causing damage to the FW46’s diffuser. In addition, the damage was quite serious and we did everything we could to compensate by adjusting the front wing, which was also damaged by another contact at the start.
At the pit stop we adjusted the angle of attack of the front wing, but the diffuser was in such a condition that Alex’s race was effectively over by then.
Summarizing the results of the weekend, I can note one pleasant moment: our car is competitive again. During the race we fought with Aston Martin and were able to overtake them on the track. Seeing Franco switch to the inside track to get ahead of Fernando Alonso in the battle for position at the next corner on the outside radius was, for me, the best overtaking move of the entire Grand Prix.
Our car was faster than the VCARB 01, but if we talk about Haas, they have introduced a number of technical innovations, and it will not be easy to compete with them in the remaining races of the season.
At the same time, we have to admit that we did not conduct Saturday’s qualifying in the best way. Even when we switched to soft tyres, we couldn’t improve and this will definitely have to be resolved because there are still many races ahead and we have to be competitive in all conditions.
We will still have chances in the remaining races, but last weekend the Haas team, with whom we are competing, earned more points and we have to admit that our lead over them has increased. However, I like that we are making progress and I would especially like to note that Franco is giving his all in every race and performing well.
Alex will be back in action, we just have to try to avoid problems and I am already looking forward to the Grand Prix of Mexico City.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
