With unabashed confidence and without batting an eye, Alex Albon made a bold statement in China on Thursday: According to him, Williams is undoubtedly the best midfield team this season. And the British-Thai driver doesn’t stop there.
“I’m not at all surprised by our speed,” says Albon when asked, reflecting on the strong impression Williams made during the first winter test in Bahrain and subsequently in the season opener in Australia. “We are the best midfield team, you can already see that. The only thing that surprised me was that we stayed ahead of Ferrari in the Melbourne qualifiers.”
According to Albon, this also says something, again with unabashed confidence. “Because on the other hand, Alpine and Racing Bulls were closer to us than we expected beforehand.” In other words, Williams should and could have been even faster than they were in Australia. The speed in the long runs during the second free practice also told a lot.
The Williams driver nods: “The pace was good. The car is also much better than last year. And even more so in the race than in the qualifiers. That didn’t come out in Melbourne, because we were driving on a wet track. But it promises a lot.”
