Miami GP: Williams Racing lacked race pace


By Williams Racing
May 8 2023

The 2023 Miami GP would see the Williams Racing Team drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant finish in 14th and 20th positions. Not the results the team was hoping for but basically it came down to the fact that both cars simply lacked the pace to be competitive. For Logan his race was also affected by front wing damage that saw him have to pit to replace his front nose. For Alex he simply was not able to maintain his postion being in the top ten early on but would drop down the order. Overall it was a race that really did show the weaknesses of the FW45.

 
  Williams Racing Miami GP Race Review
 
Sargeant
 
Sargeant 

Logan Sargeant:
"I put the car in a place I shouldn’t have in Lap 1 and took my front wing off. From there it was a difficult afternoon. Sorry to the team for my mistake. Once we went back out for the long stint on the Hard tyre, I felt like I managed it quite well. The tyres were struggling by the end but that was to be expected. On a normal strategy our pace would’ve been pretty solid all things consider. Despite today, I still loved the weekend."

 
Albon

Alex Albon:
"It was quite a tricky race; we just didn’t have the pace today. I think we went into it thinking we were the ninth quickest car and today we probably were. We were managing the front and rear tyres but I didn’t really have grip, so was sliding around. The tracks coming up don’t tend to suit our car and there’s a few upgrades coming from other teams, so we just need to get on top of it so they don’t pull away from us. There’s some positives to take from the weekend but races like today expose us a little bit and show where we really are."

Robson

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"
We didn’t quite have the pace today to challenge the top ten. We thought that we had enjoyed a good day yesterday and were probably starting the race with Alex a few places higher than the FW45’s natural pace. In a rare race with no retirements, no rain, and no flags or safety cars, we weren’t able to hold our position. Nonetheless, Alex had a good race with Valtteri and Nico and for a while it looked like he would beat both of them. Alex drove well and pushed the car hard trying to hold position and this led to some tyre degradation.

Logan was ambitious on the opening lap and damaged his front wing in a minor contact with Lance. We took the opportunity to pit him, change his wing and get into some free air. He had a lonely race from there but still showed some decent pace, despite some floor damage, during a very long stint on the Hard tyre. He can still take a lot from today and can take that learning into a tricky triple-header, starting in Imola in two weeks’ time."

 

Albon

 
Sargeant
 

Track: Miami International Autodrome, USA  

Lap Length: 5.412 km
14 A ALBON Williams Racing +72.861 (1:31.852) 11
20 L SARGEANT Williams Racing +1 LAP (1:32.384) 20
 
Albon