Formula 1 Mexico City GP

Albon "more frustrated" by Williams Mexico F1 pace than deleted Q2 lap

Alex Albon has questioned getting his Q2 time deleted in qualifying for Formula 1's Mexico Grand Prix but was "more frustrated" by Williams' curious drop in performance.

Filip Cleeren

Edited: Oct 29, 2023, 10:35 AM

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Alex Albon, Williams FW45

Albon showed huge promise in free practice for the race in Mexico City after finishing FP3 less than a tenth behind pacesetter Max Verstappen.

But Albon and team-mate Logan Sargeant both struggled in qualifying after experiencing a shift in their car's handling, with Albon even suggesting the car had developed an issue.

The Anglo-Thai still managed to salvage a Q3 spot in ninth but was demoted to a 14th starting position after seeing his fastest Q2 time deleted for exceeding track limits.

Albon felt the call was marginal after seeing replays his Williams team manager Dave Redding was given in the stewards' office.

"I don't think it was off," Albon said. "I spoke to Dave. They showed him an external view of the shot of me in Turn 2 and my rear tyres still look like they're on the white line.

"Maybe I'm wrong and I'd obviously like to be wrong because it would make me less frustrated. But I hope in a weird way, I did have track limits. But from what I saw, I didn't."

Alex Albon, Williams Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alex Albon, Williams Racing

He later added: "The snapshot they did of me, my car is halfway in the air. Technically, I'm not [exceeding] track limits because my four wheels are off the ground.

"Even the snapshot they have, my rear tyre is on the white part of the kerb, so you can't even tell what's the white line or what's the kerb. I don't know how they can make a decision like that."

But Albon was even more frustrated at Williams' drop in performance compared to Saturday morning after the team was surprisingly competitive throughout the weekend.

"I think more frustrating than that was just the lack of pace," he added. "Almost four or five-tenths slower than I did in FP3.

"I lost a lot of grip out there. The other drivers struggled but for me, it was from Turn 1 lacking rear grip. And then as you like the rear grip, it escalates because you start sliding more and then the tyres become out of control.

"My laps were actually more like race laps, I had to do so much tyre management through my qualifying laps just to keep the rears alive for sector three.

"So, that's something we need to review because it was the same last year, it was the same in FP1 and FP2 yesterday and it's happening again."

Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson was also at a loss to explain his team's drop of form from one session to the next.

"Despite only minor changes to the conditions and the setup, we had a very different performance between the two sessions," he explained.

"The performance was strong in FP3 but in qualifying both drivers struggled to find the same level of grip. We need to understand what happened between FP3 and qualifying."

Aditional reporting by Adam Cooper

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