Alex Albon still carries Williams in China

This is a team that we will have to keep an eye on this year. Williams recruited Carlos Sainz in the off-season to embody an ambitious project that aims to bring Grove's team back to the place it occupied during its glory years. But the arrival of the Spaniard does not yet make a big difference, because it is his teammate, Alexander albon, who has been carrying the team since the beginning of the year.

While Sainz expected to lose a few tenths to his teammate in the early months, he took advantage of being firmly established in the team to perform well from the start of the season. Brilliant in qualifying in Melbourne (6th), the Thai driver held on well in the rain to bring home ten points for 5th place, his best result with Williams since joining at the start of 2022.

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But the Albert Park circuit isn't representative of the entire calendar, especially not in the rain, so we'll have to wait to see the Williams' true level. Especially since the second weekend of the year is off to a good start, but still less so than in Australia. Alex Albon managed to hang on to SQ3 during sprint qualifying, but could only do 9th. This, however, places him as one of the best drivers outside the top four teams, just behind Yuki tsunoda (Racing Bulls, 8th), who was already ahead of him on the grid at Melbourne.

"I'm pretty happy, but I think we still have some work to do on the car." Albon nuances, aware of the still clearly visible difference between his machine and the best. "This circuit doesn't suit us completely at the moment, so we need to make some adjustments. It's not easy to know what to do with the tires, as they are quite sensitive. Long corners, like the ones here in China, tend to stress them more."

Tire management is a headache in China, especially in qualifying, where the endless winding curve of Turn 1 puts a lot of strain on the rubber. Some have been caught out, such as Charles Leclerc or Isack Hadjar. "It's hard to get them into the right window of use, and you feel like you have to manage them, or even over-manage them at times. We'll work on that tonight and try to come back stronger tomorrow." concludes the former pilot Red Bull.

By starting 9th on the grid for the sprint race, Alex Albon can hope to make it into the top 8 and score points again. He will start with the rear wing of the Mercedes Kimi Antonelli (7th) in his sights, just in front of him. The Italian had overtaken him in the final moments in Melbourne to steal fourth place thanks to a superb overtake, so Albon will undoubtedly be keen to take his revenge on the Mercedes rookie.