Williams on break: Albon-dependent

It has been a few years now that the Williams team has been stuck at the back of the grid with a car that is unable to achieve any good results. After George Russell's departure to Mercedes, it is now Alex Albon who has come to take the vacant seat. With a change in regulations, one could have expected some surprises from the team, but there have been none, at least not until now...

The best race

It's difficult to point out the good results of the team as they are rare. They are the only team on the grid to have collected less than 20 points in the constructors' standings. The best race in terms of points was in Miami. On a brand new track, when some teams were struggling a lot with the handling, it was Alex Albon who managed to stand out and secure ninth place. Latifi had his second best performance of the season, finishing in 14th place.

The worst race

The worst race in terms of position occurred just before the break, in Hungary. Both cars finished 17th and 18th. The cars lacked pace and both were eliminated during the first phase of qualifying on Saturday.

A progression?

It is difficult to assess any progress in the team as it seems to be lagging behind in terms of performance compared to the three, or even four, teams ahead of Williams. The improvements made to the car do not allow it to fully compete with Aston Martin, the ninth team on the grid. However, the car seems to be faster on a single lap, judging by the team's qualifying results which continue to improve. Williams has managed to reach the Q2 stage in two out of the last five races.

Reliability compared to the rest of the grid.

However, there is still one positive aspect to this car, and that is its reliability. Alex Albon was forced to retire twice, one of which was due to the major accident that occurred in Silverstone. Latifi, on the other hand, retired three times, but the Mercedes power unit doesn't seem to have any reliability issues.

Pilots' duel

Alex Albon is the only driver to have scored points in the championship. With a ninth place in Miami, and a tenth place in Australia. It is evident to say that the driver is achieving results that are superior to what the car seems capable of offering in terms of performance.

In qualifying, the Thai driver has managed to advance from Q1 on four occasions this season. Through his driving skills and race strategy, despite starting from a lower position, the Thai driver mostly avoids collisions and gains valuable positions during races. As evidence, he averages starting from the 16th position on the grid and usually finishes around the 13th position on average. Apart from his two retirements, he has finished below the 14th position only twice.

Nicholas Latifi's season is very challenging. Once again, he is being outperformed by his teammate this season. Moreover, he is unable to convert his good weekends into points. He managed to reach Q3 once this season, which is an excellent achievement. It happened during the Silverstone Grand Prix, but unfortunately, he could only finish in 12th place, with only 14 cars remaining on the track.

Otherwise, he has been eliminated in the first stage of qualifying in each race this season. He is the only driver on the grid who has not scored any points this season. However, he seemed to have a good chance of making it out of Q1 in Hungary. Despite setting the fastest time in the first sector, he was unable to improve his time and had to start in 19th place. The Canadian driver is likely to experience his last season in Formula 1.

Here is a comparative table of the drivers where Alex Albon is clearly in his favor.

Ranking position

In the constructors' ranking, Williams is far behind and is at the bottom of the leaderboard. It seems quite unlikely to see them turn things around before the end of the season.

Despite some impressive performances from Alex Albon, Williams once again finds itself far behind its competitors. While Latifi is not expected to stay in Formula 1 next season, Alex Albon has extended his contract with the team. This season seems to be headed for the trash, unless there is a surprise before the championship resumes.