Alex Albon delighted with 6th place in Belgium after holding off Lewis Hamilton

Alex Albon expressed delight after securing a fine sixth place at the Belgian Grand Prix, following a solid race where he managed to withstand constant pressure from Lewis Hamilton. The Thai driver was able to get the best out of his Williams on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, marking significant points for his team.

The weekend was somewhat mixed for Williams: Carlos Sainz, despite performing well in the Sprint race where he scored points, ended a nightmare Sunday in 18th place after starting from the pit lane.

A sixth place for Alex Albon

Alex Albon, who himself struggled in the Sprint with a modest 16th place, bounced back well with a convincing qualifying performance on Saturday afternoon, allowing him to start in fifth position on the grid. Although he lost a place to George Russell in the early wet laps, he managed to hold on to an excellent sixth position until the checkered flag. Notably, he resisted a lengthy attack from Lewis Hamilton, despite him being equipped with DRS and a Ferrari effective in race pace.

« Very happy. It wasn’t easy to keep Lewis behind, he put pressure on me for a good part of the race », said Alex Albon.

« A bit frustrated to have lost a position to George, but to be honest, we struggled a bit more in the wet than in the dry. Once the slick tires were on, it was better. »

« We finished about 12 seconds ahead of the next car in the pack, which clearly shows that our package was working this weekend. Very satisfied. »

With this result, Alex Albon achieved his best finish since Imola. He has now scored points in nine of the ten races he has finished this season, ending a difficult streak of three consecutive retirements in Spain, Canada, and Austria.

« It proves that if we had finished all the races, we would probably have scored every time. It’s a very good dynamic to have. »

« It shows that the DNA of the car is consistent, that we don’t just have performance peaks. I think we are the most consistent midfield team. We can approach every weekend aiming for points, as long as we reach the finish.

Thanks to these points, Williams consolidates its fifth place in the Constructors’ standings, with a more comfortable cushion over the rest of the field.

A Sunday to forget for Carlos Sainz

On his side, Carlos Sainz experienced a much more complicated race. After opting for a start from the pit lane to replace engine components and fix an issue detected on the car, the Spanish driver was never able to recover and finished far back in 18th position.

« Basically, our weekend was decided as soon as we had the bad qualifying sessions yesterday, he confessed. « After analysis, we saw that we went in the wrong direction with the settings, which cost me quite a bit in qualifications. »

« We also discovered an anomaly on the car over the weekend, so we decided to start from the pit lane to fix it, modify the setup, and fit a high downforce rear wing in anticipation of wet conditions. Ultimately, the track remained dry, and we couldn’t progress. »

Like others, Carlos Sainz bet on a setup unsuited to the actual conditions, in a very uncertain weather context. But beyond this episode, the Spaniard admits to a real frustration with a see-saw season.

« I don’t know if it’s a question of time, or if I should consider a more radical change to try to connect better with the car », he said. « We had a great Sprint, a great qualifying for the Sprint, a very good lap in Q1, and suddenly everything collapses. »

« Every weekend, it’s a different problem, so there isn’t really a clear pattern. We will continue to work hard and see what we can do in Hungary », he concluded.