Williams are eager to regain competitiveness after tough Barcelona weekend
Ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon stated that they are eager to get regain the form they had shown ahead of the Barcelona round.
Williams had arrived at Barcelona with low expectations as they had expected their FW47 to struggle on a circuit which has traditionally exposed the weaknesses of their cars in recent years.
The qualifying session saw Carlos Sainz get knocked out in Q1 while his team-mate Alexander Albon failed to progress into the final segment. The race then turned out to be a tough afternoon for Williams.
Albon had contact at the start and was forced wide. The Thai driver did not only lose several places, but he was also forced to pit for a new front wing. He had a further contact later on as he collided with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
The incident resulted in another front wing damage for Albon and he was also handed a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. After serving his penalty, he elected to retire from the race.
His team-mate also had contact on the first lap which led to front wing damage. With his damage having been a smaller one, Sainz refused to pit for a new wing, but he lost performance as a result of it.
Although he finished the race, he failed to score any points at his home race where he has always finished in the points since the start of his F1 career.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Albon noted that Williams are "determined to come back fighting" after a suboptimal trope header.
"Canada is a race with a lot of opportunity, and I have some nice memories of my overtakes around here last year. The weather can be changeable but we've been performing well in all conditions so far this year, so we’ll be looking to capitalise on this.
"We didn’t close the triple header in the way we wanted, so we’re determined to come back fighting in Montreal," concluded the Thai driver.
His team-mate Sainz spent last weekend in his home city Madrid where he completed a demo run ahead of the debut race of the Madring that will take place next September.
"Despite it being a busy few weeks with the triple header ending in Barcelona followed by the roadshow in Madrid last Saturday, I feel recharged and excited to head to Canada for what I hope will be a positive weekend!
"Canada is always a fun circuit to drive with many overtaking opportunities, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do with the FW47 around this circuit!
"The weather always plays a huge part in Montreal with unpredictable conditions, so we’ll make the most of all the opportunities we can and push flat out all weekend.
