Williams worked to 'resolve her issues' ahead of Saudi Grand Prix

After a mixed weekend in Bahrain, marked by a 15th place for Alexander albon and a 20th for Logan sargeant, Williams hopes to do better for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Slowed down during the race by engine overheating and an electronic failure on the steering wheel of its American driver, the team worked this week to get rid of its problems.

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“AGGHH!” shouts Logan Sargeant after running off

He's got going again but he's now down in last place#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/6GbCzR0jbV

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 2, 2024

“We had some problems last week in Bahrain, including problems with the power unit and flywheel cooling. We used the few days leading up to the Jeddah race to resolve these issues and we are heading into this race more confident with the FW46.”, assures Dave Robson, performance director.

Logan Sargeant explains that despite « The problems " met in Bahrain: « There are positive points since the start of the race that we can build on for the second round.”

Williams expects very tight midfield

On the eve of free practice, the team is expecting an extremely close race, where every tenth will count.

“It will be interesting to see how the midfield evolves as we head into a very different challenge here in Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah circuit is fast and poses very different questions to the drivers and cars than the Sakhir circuit. Pirelli brings the middle of its tire range, which is another big change from last week, also points out Dave Robson. It's likely we'll see all teams reduce their drag level, which could change the mid-pack order on race day. »

On the pilots' side, the desire to do better is felt. Team leader Alex Albon frustrated with « a disappointing first race », is satisfied “to get back to it and get involved this week”. “Jeddah is a fun track, where it’s all about confidence with speed. It will be interesting to go to another circuit and see how the FW46 behaves. Hopefully we can take the lessons from Bahrain and put them to good use this weekend in the fight for the middle of the pack,” continues the Thai.

“In my experience, Jeddah is one of, if not the, fastest street circuit on the calendar, with several fast corners and little margin for error. The battle in the middle of the pack looks set to be tight after the first race, with very little difference between the teams. We have a great opportunity to bounce back immediately and have a positive result,” says Logan Sargeant, who hopes to assert himself in his second season in F1.

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Kelman Marti