Alex Albon: We are only a few tenths behind Mercedes

Alex Albon qualified ninth in Belgium, but will start sixth thanks to penalties from the opponent. His teammate Nicholas Latifi set the 17th fastest time and starts 11th. Williams is optimistic about the race and expects to score points.

Alex Albon (9th): “We look great on this track. The team is confident all weekend – we expected to make it to the second part of qualifying, but it was a little unexpected to get into the final, but I’m happy – a great result for us.

The car is fast, but we keep learning its features. After the third practice, the team adjusted the settings, which helped with qualifying. Our car is suitable for low downforce tracks, and if the weather cooperates, it is possible to show a very good time.

Ninth place reflects the true pace. Apparently everyone drove clean laps today and we were only a few tenths behind Mercedes. This shows that we can squeeze the most out of the car in certain situations.

Thanks to the penalties I start sixth – I will try to hold the position or even be ahead of someone! In theory it will be difficult to overtake me because my car is fast on the straights, but still Spa is not Monaco where it is easy to hold on to rivals. Tomorrow we have to work with our elbows.”

Nicholas Latific (17th): “In the third practice I felt we had made progress because the car handled much better. Despite my result, we had the potential to make it to the second part of qualifying, so I’m upset.

Unfortunately, the decisive fast lap turned out to be my worst lap of the whole weekend – the car and the tires behaved unpredictably. I made a lot of mistakes – the circle has gone bad. It is a pity that it was not possible to show the result when it mattered. I start higher thanks to the opponent’s penalties, which offers opportunities.”