Albon warns Williams FW48 recovery ‘won’t be overnight’ despite clear potential
Alex Albon: But there's so much baggage on the car
Alex Albon believes Williams has scope to improve the FW48, especially as the car came out of the blocks with “so much baggage”.
It’s been a trying to Formula 1’s new era for Williams, who were late to the test arena due to “delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance”.
Alex Albon outlines Williams FW48 recovery timeline and potential
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When it did arrive, the car was notably overweight as team principal James Vowles admitted he had several solutions on his desk, but that Formula 1’s cost cap meant it was easier said than done.
The added weight is costing Williams performance, with the team also not helped in developing the car by reliability issues that hamstrung both drivers.
Carlos Sainz wasn’t able to qualify in Australia, while Albon didn’t start in China. In Japan, the Thai-British racer referred to his grand prix as a “test session” as his FW48 suffered with energy deployment issues. He made four trips to the pits for Williams to work on the car.
To date only Sainz has scored for the team, having finished ninth at the Chinese Grand Prix where only 15 drivers completed the race.
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Williams was handed a welcome break after the Japanese Grand Prix following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races, giving the team more time in the factory to resolve the car’s issues.
Albon is convinced Williams will make progress, it just won’t be easy.
“It will be tough,” Albon explained during an appearance on The Fast And The Curious podcast.
“But there’s so much baggage on the car, I don’t want to say it will be easy, but there’s a lot of potential for us to go forward. So, it won’t happen overnight, and it really is a race-by-race, chip away at it kind of thing.
“I think that, for example, we have an upgrade package in Miami. It will be better, but it won’t be the best thing since sliced bread. Realistically, we are now repositioning our focus.
“It will be to get back into the midfield fight and then get to the top of that fight. So, let’s see. But, like everything with the new regulation change, the potential for teams to improve is massive.
“And by the time the end of the year comes around, we’re going to have a completely different car than where we are right now.
“So, full push ahead. The factory is absolutely flat out.”
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