Brazilian GP: Fantastic qualifying for Williams F1 Team

Alex Albon:
"I’m really happy with that result, and it’s great to be back in Q3. It was a difficult session overall, but we extracted the maximum from it. I’m pleased with my laps in Q1 and Q2, which were right on the limit, and the pace felt good again in Q3. The conditions were tough for everyone out there, but honestly, I enjoyed it. We usually go well in these conditions, and we needed the rain today. It’s been a great effort from everyone in the team, so that should give us confidence going into tomorrow. We have been strong on starts, so the plan is to keep it clean and race from there. Points are the target, so let’s hope it stays wet."

Carlos Sainz:
"A tricky qualifying out there but the car was feeling really good. We were strong on the extreme wets as we got the tyres working and we were setting competitive lap times. Unfortunately I switched to the intermediate compound one lap too late and the red flag didn’t allow me to put a lap time on the board with that tyre, which was very frustrating but we were just unlucky. The FIA handled today well and made the right call to pause Q1, and they did well to make the most of the gap between showers. A bit of rain tomorrow would be welcome, and if we’re able to stay out of trouble, we can have an exciting race."

James Vowles, Team Principal:
"A really great effort from the whole team. It was fantastic to be here and listen to how the team was organising themselves: getting the tyres ready, making the call to go to inters, and using all the modes.

With Alex, some of the trickiest conditions I can remember, and he delivered when it mattered most. Particularly for me, his Q2 lap and the real stress on that inter, it was a brilliant job. Carlos was on a good lap but, unfortunately, got caught in the red flag from Câmara, but I’m sure he’ll be up there tomorrow with the rest.

Delaying the session was the right decision, so well done to F1 and the FIA on delivering a great qualifying in difficult circumstances. It looks like tomorrow we may have more of the same rain, and I look forward to it."