George Russell claims Williams is on the right track to lead the F1 midfield

Russell raced for Williams from 2019 to 2021.

George Russell claims Williams is on the right track to lead the F1 midfield

Alex Albon and George Russell (Credits: PlanetF1)

Williams has been through a lot of financial distress in the past seasons. After the team hit an all-time low of zero points scored in a season in 2020, American investment firm Dorilton Capital bought Williams, and they have been on an upward trajectory ever since.

Mercedes and former Williams driver George Russell has expressed his happiness for the team, saying that Williams is set to become the best team in the middle order of F1. He said that Williams’ appointment of James Vowles, former Mercedes strategy director, has benefited the team.

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“They’re [Williams] a team who work really hard. They had a few years of difficulties and now also with James there, I think they’re definitely on the right tracks to try and push themselves to the front of the midfield. So I couldn’t be happier for James, Alex and Williams as a whole,” Russell told racingnews365.

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Alex Albon says Williams’ new strength could be the reason for their new weaknesses

Alex Albon
Alex Albon (Credits: Autosport)

Williams has seen a significant improvement in their straight-line pace in their 2023 campaign. Alex Albon, who has scored all eleven points for Williams this season, has said that the changes made to their car to improve their pace might harm other avenues.

Despite this advantage, both the Williams drivers found themselves outside of a points finish in Spa. While Albon appreciated the pace they have achieved, he said that the tire degradation has also increased very significantly. He said, “There are positives, especially for Monza, [our] straight line speed is great in all but it does degrade the tyres a lot.”

Along with tire degradation, Albon also talked about how they were overheating during the race in Spa. Interestingly, Albon said that the mid-race precipitation helped his tire management. The rain helped him cool his tires which in turn provided him with a much better grip.

“What’s actually interesting to me was when it started to rain, it cooled my tyres down and gave me more grip than in the dry. And so I actually caught back up again, and had a resurgence of pace, which just shows you how much overheating we were doing,” he added.

Albon currently stands in 13th position in the driver’s standings with 11 points. His teammate, Logan Sargeant, is yet to score his first points of the season and is 19th on the standings.

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