Final 12 months’s Williams FW45 was famous for its prime pace, which allowed it to shine on sure tracks and propel Albon into the factors.
However for 2024, the Grove outfit has tried to develop a automobile that’s extra persistently aggressive at a spread of circuits.
That in flip has seen the automobile lose the straightline benefit that it has beforehand loved, with Albon noting in Jeddah that he now needed to do his overtaking within the corners, moderately than on the straights.
Albon, who simply made it into Q2 in Suzuka and features up 14th on the grid for Sunday’s race, admitted that the automobile was not well-suited to the observe, and that had prompted a seek for extra pace on the straights.
“I might say there’s a few areas with this 12 months’s automobile which are barely worse than final 12 months’s,” he stated. “Not many, however there are, and this observe has a number of these corners, these type of longer, medium/high-speed corners.
“So we’re struggling a bit extra in sector one. However on the identical time, truthfully when you have a look at our straight-line pace, it is no a secret, we have got much less of wing than everybody else. So I hope it helps us within the race. We type of gone down a thin wing alternative this weekend.
“We really feel just like the final couple races we might have been a bit skinnier than we had been. So we have been a bit braver this weekend, and completed it. So let’s examine if it pays off [in the race].”
Alex Albon, Williams FW46
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Albon had a slide at Spoon nook on his fast lap in Q2, however he downplayed the importance of it.
“Yeah, however I saved my foot in it,” he stated when requested by Motorsport.com about his second. “So it did not actually lose me a lot time. It might have improved my lap time, however I do not suppose my place.
“It’s a tough observe, I believe you see even in Q3 that the observe is so abrasive. It is that old-fashioned tarmac. So it actually rips the tyre whenever you slide it a bit an excessive amount of.
“And as you undergo qualifying, and also you begin driving quicker and quicker, you go faster [but then] you go slower because the tyre begins to overheat.
“I acquired caught out somewhat bit in Spoon, simply went a bit faster and paid the worth. I might really feel the rears going off a bit greater than it did on the Q1 lap. I imply, all in all, it isn’t been an excellent weekend for us, been somewhat bit on the backfoot.”
However he was inspired by the replace bundle launched in Japan: “It is not the place we need to be, however on the identical time, upgrades nonetheless on plan.
“I used to be attempting a distinct entrance wing this weekend. Some issues I believe are higher, however I nonetheless want to completely perceive what it does. So we’re nonetheless making inroads, it is simply we have to make extra.”
