Alex Albon has tempered rising expectations surrounding Williams’ resurgence in the wake of another exceptional result at the British Grand prix.
The impact of the upgrades to the FW45 ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix were markedly evident as a new floor, sidepods and rear suspension – on Albon’s car only – allowed for a step change in performance and a season-high seventh-place finish at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
After just missing out on further points in Austria where he was 11th, Albon was then one of the stars of the Silverstone weekend as a car sporting minor changes to the front wing and a circuit-specific rear-wing, delivered superb straight-line speed that allowed Albon to finish eighth.
The Thai-British driver readily concedes he was aided by the “perfect, perfect time” of the safety car following the power unit failure and small fire on Kevin Magnussen’s Haas that allowed him to restart ahead of two of his key rivals in the race in Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Taking stock of the car’s strengths and weaknesses, he said: “Our highs and lows are quite easy to predict.
“I don’t know if McLaren could have predicted their pace over the weekend but I think we can.
“It’s quite clear that tracks where there’s a bit lower downforce and full-throttle time, that’s all us, that’s how we like it.
“It’s also important the track temp remains quite cool. The track temp (at Silverstone) was dropping at the end of the race, which made us a bit more competitive.
“And also not much braking, the less braking the better for us, so Silverstone works out quite well for that.”
It means do not expect too much of Williams over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend at the tight, twisty Hungaroring that only has one main straight, numerous braking points, and where it is generally always hot.
With eyes on circuits more suited to the car’s characteristics in Spa and Monza, Albon added: “We definitely have a quicker car this year, and this new package has also stepped everything up a level.
“But we wouldn’t go into Hungary expecting points. We’re still going to have our good circuits and our bad circuits, so Spa and Monza are still our focus.
“The thing is we are now P7 in the constructors’ championship (on countback over Haas), so we are in a very good place.
“It’s just that points aren’t always available. In the few races where we can score points coming up this year, we’re going to have to make sure we capitalise to stay seventh.”
