Williams, still very far from the mark in Monaco

The members of the stable Williams may need to return to the hairdresser soon. The fun red hair dye, adopted by all mechanics and engineers to bring good luck, no longer has the same effect. Since the two points taken in Miami, Williams has fallen back into his ways. In Barcelona, Latifs et Albon finished 16th and 18th respectively, two laps behind the winner. Difficult to do worse? Monaco proved the opposite. On Sunday, in addition to experiencing a complicated race, the two drivers of the British team did not show themselves in their best light.

Mistakes galore for Albon and Latifi

On the one hand, Nicholas Latifi was trapped before the race even started. On the formation lap, the Canadian braked too late at the hairpin, damaging his front wing in the process.

LAP 1 / 77

The race has started behind the Safety Car

Latifi has gone into the barriers at the hairpin. He's managed to get going again#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/4GuZku8ucq

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 29, 2022

Despite switching to intermediate tires on the 3rd lap, Latifi was never able to show his advantage. Stuck in traffic, he then had several mishaps in the Sainte-Dévote escape route. The only feat of arms: an authoritarian overreach on Guanyu-Zhou at the Rascasse.

“It was a very difficult race and after putting on the intermediate tires early we were detached from the peloton but we had good pace to catch up. The last stint on mediums proved quite tricky as I didn't feel completely comfortable with the balance. However, we managed to bring the car home, which is not easy in these conditions, and we also gained two places, which is positive. » 

On the other side of the Williams garage, for Alexander Albon, Monaco was not a cakewalk. After going straight at Sainte-Dévote like his teammate, the Thai suffered a puncture only 3 laps after his stop. The ex-pilot Red Bull hit the wall inside the Rascasse while trying to overtake Zhou. Ultimately, Albon was forced to retire due to a mechanical problem.

“It was a tricky day and a bit of a messy performance on my side, too. The conditions made putting the brakes in the right window a real challenge, especially with all the variations that a drying track brings and the red flags. The car felt good as soon as we had clean air and I felt competitive at times, so there are some positives to take from the day. (…) I think it's probably a weekend to forget for us, but that's how it goes sometimes. »

Williams, snail operation?

If the two Williams drivers were not in great spirits in the streets of the Principality, they also have two disruptive elements for the leaders, especially for the Ferrari. Alexander Albon ignored blue flags for nearly a lap, slowing down Charles Leclerc behind him. The Monegasque was then chasing Sergio Pérez.

The lap where Charles was held up by Alex Albon…

This was just before his second pit stop, at a crucial point in the race.

I honestly have no idea what Albon was doing here… pic.twitter.com/DV8LYfCq7z

— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) May 29, 2022

A few laps later, it was Nicholas Latifi who slowed down Carlos Sainz all the way to the tunnel, while the Spaniard was in the race for victory. Two situations which were not penalized but which cost the Ferraris dearly.

The Grove team is therefore failing in Monaco and no longer seems to be progressing in the hierarchy. Williams was far from the mark all weekend in Monaco. Both cars were eliminated in Q1 and the FW44 remained the worst car in the field.

Dave Robson, performance director of the British team, wants to learn lessons from this new setback. “It was a tough race, but we learned a lot about the FW44 this weekend, some of which will be relevant for the next race in Baku. » You will have to react quickly to stay in contact withAston Martin. Williams sees his score blocked at 3 small points in the championship from Miami. But right now it's hard to imagine better days at Grove.

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