Alex Albon Frustrated After 'Terrible, Terrible Time' For Williams

Alex Harrington | 3 Hours Ago

Williams Racing driver Alexander Albon of Team Thailand greets fans at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas Friday October 18, 2024. / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Grand Prix of 2024 proved to be another challenging campaign for Williams, with drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto facing difficulties throughout the weekend. Despite the promising outset, the team's struggle continued as neither driver managed to secure points, marking a disappointing run of three consecutive events without scoring. Alex Albon's frustration was palpable after his race ended prematurely due to a suspected power unit issue, marking what he described as a “terrible, terrible time” for the team.

Albon began the race from a less-than-ideal P17 but quickly pushed his way into the mix for points after the first round of pit stops. His performance showed a noticeable pace compared to the likes of Haas's Nico Hulkenberg. "I was pretty comfortable," Albon confirmed. "I had to let Nico [Hulkenberg] past but I was happy with my pace. I felt like I could do more, to be honest."

Albon's race was ruined by mechanical issues that cut short his promising run. Power unit problems have not been an isolated incident for Williams this season, as similar setbacks were seen in previous races such as Singapore. Albon admitted his desire to repay the team's persistent efforts.

“It’s frustrating,” he admitted. “I feel like we’ve had a terrible, terrible time of it as of late. It’s just frustrating.

“I was excited about the race, I felt like [we could score] great points hopefully. [I thought we could] repay the team – especially the mechanics and everyone at the factory – for all the hard work we’ve been going through... but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Franco Colapinto faced his set of challenges following a heavy crash during Friday's qualifying that required an overnight effort from the team to rebuild his car. Starting from the pit lane, Colapinto ended the race in 14th place. He struggled with tire management and the difficulty of racing in dirty air, which hampered his ability to climb up the grid.

“It was a tough race,” Colapinto admitted. “I think [I] lost a lot of time on the first stint, then I think we did a good job, the pace was okay in the other two [stints]. It was tough [in] the dirty air, we were just hurting the tyres so, so much [that it] then was difficult to manage.

“But I think overall after a tough day yesterday, today was decent. [We] need to keep working to understand how to be stronger in Qatar and Abu Dhabi and move forward.”