Alex Albon and Williams finally opened their account for the 2024 season by scoring their first point at the Monaco GP. While the Grove-based outfit have struggled with their ultimate performance this year, they capitalized on their potential in the Principality. Speaking about the same, the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams, Dave Robson, highlighted how Albon helped them to scrape that all-important championship point at a chaotic and uncertain race weekend.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Robson stated how the FW46 has been a much better car around slower corners this year. The same trend continued in Monaco too but they had to “make some setup changes and that’s not always easy to do in Monaco”.
He then mentioned how they had to put in a lot of track time and correlate it with the simulator data to iron out their setup issues. Robson further added, “We had some useful input on Friday night. Alex did some setup work on Saturday in P3 and that made a good step forward and made a difference to his pace”.
Williams were relatively better in Monaco than in the previous races this season. While they have adapted and modified their car concept to be good through the corners as well, it has cost them some raw straight-line performance.
The straight-line speed had been one of Williams’ competitive advantages in 2022 and 2023. However, if they can gain that back with the FW46 being better on high downforce circuits too, it would be more promising for the Grove outfit.
In 2023, they did well to develop through the season and finish a respectable seventh in the constructors’ standings. Albon and Co. would hope the Monaco GP stimulates a similar recovery for them and they get in the mix for points more often.
How Williams are showing promise but still have a lot of ground to cover
Williams have been making the right noises and taking steps in the right direction since 2022. However, their step forward toward better performance has been relatively small, as they are quite far from fighting for podiums and wins.
Once a champion team, the Grove outfit has struggled for cash and investment as well as good state-of-the-art infrastructure. James Vowles coming in as the new team boss in 2023 along with the owners, Dorilton Capital’s strategic investment, have pushed to change this status quo.
And Vowles’ efforts especially have urged Alex Albon to renew his contract for another two years beyond 2024. The Thai driver had been a hot property with many teams wanting to sign him, owing to his amazing performances. However, Albon decided to stay put and trust Williams’ future plans.
Williams would hope that 2026 engine regulations could help them take a jump up the grid. With Mercedes as its engine partner and the aerodynamics department picking up the slack and improving, the Grove outfit could look to fight regularly in the midfield come 2026.
