By Carlo Platella
In Azerbaijan, the Grove team celebrated its best result of the season with an eighth and a seventh place, just a step away from the sixth position defended by Fernando Alonso. The choice to replace Logan Sargeant with Franco Colapinto during the race has already proved to be rewarding, but it is not the only merit of the British team. It is a very nice Williams that you can appreciate on the trackwhich with the updates arrived after the break now presents itself as a decidedly more complete car than it was 12 months ago.
The Azerbaijani weekend
In Baku the FW46 expresses a race pace that surprises Williams itself. Starting on hard tyres, Alexander Albon extended the opening lap compared to the competition, aiming to travel in clear air. The expectation was that Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, once they had made their pit stops, would return to the track ahead of the English driver without hindering his race. However, Albon’s pace exceeded expectations, finding himself entangled in the battles at the front that probably cost him the chance to pass Alonso in the finale.
The Grove team is happy with the 10 points it has earned, following its double entry into Q3, the 2 points already secured in Monza and Albon’s eighth place in qualifying in Zandvoort, before being disqualified for a floor irregularity. It is a Williams that is decidedly more convincing than the 2023 one, when on low-load tracks he was able to fight for points thanks to an exceptional top speed, which is however a symptom of a lack of aerodynamic load.
This year in Monza the FW46s were instead among the slowest on the straightahead of only the Red Bulls, while in Baku they made the difference in the driven second sector, printing the seventh and eighth best split times in qualifying. Strengthened by the conceptual change in the winter and the latest updates, the British single-seater now appears more solid, with new strengths compared to the cars that preceded it.
Promoted Updates
Grove has invested a lot in the new car concept, the foundations of which were laid with the first experiments conducted at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. Last season it was therefore decided to interrupt development well in advance, preferring to change vision and design objectives in view of the next car. The result was a single-seater, the FW46, significantly improved in drivabilityso much so that Albon felt as if he were racing for a different team.
During the year the British driver has reiterated how he feels more confident in the car, managing to get closer to the limit especially in the slow corners, as confirmed by the first points scored in Monte Carlo. From this point of view Baku, a track dominated by short, slow and ninety-degree corners, has highlighted one of the strong points of the project. Yet the result achieved in Azerbaijan surprised the team, which in the past had struggled to effectively interpret the Azerbaijani track. The performance in Baku thus attests the effectiveness of the new update package arrived after the break, which renewed the bottom, diffuser and bodywork.
The Q3 clawed at Zandvoort and the points at Monza reinforce the impression of a car that has grown significantly in terms of downforce and aerodynamic efficiencywithout any deterioration in driveability. Added to this is the progressive lightening work carried out by Imola, which according to James Vowles would have ensured a gain of almost half a second on the stopwatch by the end of the year. With more updates to come, there can only be curiosity to see how far Williams can push by the end of the season with Racing Bulls and Haas in their sights in the constructors’ standings.
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