F1 | Williams: 9th place at Silverstone gives oxygen and confidence

If Silverstone provided a good fight at the top, the British event was also very significant for the midfield. Haas brought a package of updates that seems to have actually given the desired benefits, Aston Martin returned to the points zone with both cars after a difficult period, while Williams achieved a nice ninth place, which is of great value from a constructors’ perspective.

Thanks to the result at Silverstone, where it had already shone last year, the Grove team has now climbed to four points in the standings, extending its lead over Sauber, still stuck at zero points after half the championship. A result that also comes on a particular weekend, because before Spain and Austria expectations were higher, but the slightly disappointing results obtained at the Red Bull Ring and in Barcelona had lowered expectations for the home race.

On the contrary, Williams has been able to build and exploit a good opportunity to score crucial points, which could have a big impact at the end of the year when the sums are drawn and the prizes are distributed. The price of the additional weight continues to be felt, especially because the Grove team is behind on the updates, but the ninth place at Silverstone, where the FW46 showed off a livery in honor of all the team members, has given a nice injection of confidence to the environment.

Contrasting feelings that had been confirmed on Friday after the first free practice sessions, more on the flying lap than on the pace, but a change of set-up in key areas and the lowering of temperatures, useful above all for managing the tyres in the traction phase and in the slow corners, allowed us to take a step forward: “On Friday the car had the same characteristics as Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring. We had doubts, we wanted to understand how to overcome certain balance problems. We worked during the night in the right direction. In some ways the limitations were not completely resolved, but we managed to find a solution”, said Albon explaining the improvements during the weekend.

Even though this car has changed in many ways compared to last year, part of its DNA has remained unchanged. Last season, the FW45 proved to be not only very fast on the straights, but also extremely competitive in the corners to be taken flat out or at high speed: an element that, at least at Silverstone, was confirmed, putting Williams in a position to fight for a good result, beating for example the Racing Bulls who, beyond the specific difficulties linked to the latest aerodynamic package, have never really liked that type of corners.

The race started off with a negative moment, not only for the position lost to Charles Leclerc, but also for a contact at the start that could have put Alex Albon in a critical situation: luckily for him, however, the damage was limited to a broken element on the endplate on the left side of the front wing, so much so that during the pit stop it was not even replaced, but only rebalanced to give a better overall balance. On the other hand, however, the maneuver of the Anglo-Thai to avoid the contact made him slip to 12th place, also behind Yuki Tsunoda, behind whom he remained stuck for a long time despite a potentially superior pace, losing ground to the Aston Martins. A regret, especially when the first drops of rain further lowered the temperatures on the track, helping the FW46.

Alex Albon, Williams FW46

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“When we pitted, we were able to adjust the front wing to rebalance some of the damage we had at the start of the race. From that point on the car was very good,” Albon said.

In this perspective, two external elements were key: George Russell’s retirement and Charles Leclerc’s early pit stop, which later turned out to be incorrect, for the intermediate tyre, which allowed him to return to the points zone. However, the choice of tyre in the last pit stop, when he switched to slicks, played an equally important role. While other teams chose to focus on the soft, a compound that could guarantee greater grip at the start but with the risk of being exposed to graining, Williams with Albon went in a different direction, focusing on the medium, which turned out to be the most effective compound.

It was precisely this element that allowed them to overtake Tsunoda in the final stretch of the race, given that, on the contrary, Racing Bulls had opted for the softer compound, paying for its degradation at the end. A decisive move, which allowed them to checkmate the Japanese, distancing him by 7 seconds under the checkered flag, thus guaranteeing two golden points to the Grove team.

“We did a great job, we stopped at the right time and we also chose the medium tyre, while others went for the soft. I think that in the first laps we could have pushed more with the medium, while with the soft we had to manage a bit more. So I am very happy, also with how the last laps went, we went very well”, added Albon, who however stressed that now they must understand why this track was so favourable to the car.

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Alex Albon, Williams FW46

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“We need to understand why this track suited our car so well. This weekend we had a good pace, a good pure pace, and I think that was a big difference compared to the past weeks. We went for the fastest strategy, instead of trying to be optimistic and go around with something alternative. On Friday we had a good race pace and honestly for most of the race I had the feeling that I couldn’t show my real pace. At the beginning I was a bit stuck in the group.”

After the good result in Silverstone, Albon hopes to be able to fight for points in Belgium too: “The tendency is that in some circuits we do very well like last year, in others not. For example Monaco is much better than last year. However, Canada and Silverstone, two very good circuits for us, have also gone well this year. Barcelona is still a difficult track. Spa was good for us last year, but only on a single lap and not over a long distance, so we have to see. I think it will be better in Belgium than in Hungary, but let’s be optimistic, after today I think we can fight for points in Spa,” added Albon.