Abu Dhabi GP: Williams retains 7th in Championship
By Williams Racing
November 27 2023
The results of the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP would show that Williams Racing Team drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant would finish 14th and 16th. Not the best of results in terms of achieving any points as both drivers continued to struggle with the difficult FW45. But even with these results it was the performance of other drivers that would see them fail to overtake Williams in the Constructors Championship. The team would retain their seventh in the championship in what ws such a fantastic moment for everyone at the Williams team. After a year of so much hard work this result was a real lift for everyone at the team as well as its fans. Bring on 2024.
Williams Racing
Abu Dhabi GP
Race Review
Logan Sargeant:
"Firstly, congratulations to the entire team at track and back at
Grove for claiming P7 in the Constructors’ Championship. Everyone has
worked incredibly hard all year round to earn this achievement.
I was unfortunate not to get a position or two off the start. Other than
that, we missed a bit of pace. Purposely we didn’t optimise strategy to
try and hold back Daniel [Ricciardo] as long as we could. I was proud of
the defence I put up against him for a few laps to contribute to helping
the team today. I enjoyed the end on fresh Hard tyres, coming back
through the field doing Quali lap after Quali lap. From a personal point
of view, it’s been another strong weekend. Obviously yesterday was
unfortunate with the track limits but once again I’ve had the pace of
what the car was capable of and I’m proud of that.
There’s been tough times and good times during my rookie season. This
back half of this season I’ve really found some momentum. My race pace
has been on a very upward trajectory and Qualifying pace is starting to
come together. I’m proud of the resilience I’ve had all year, I’ve never
given in. I kept pushing and improving and I couldn’t have spent this
season with a better group of people."
Alex Albon:
"My race was okay; I don’t think it was the best following a bad
start, but we seemed to recover for the second and third stint.
Unfortunately, Yuki [Tsunoda] was too fast for us to have any
involvement in his race, however it’s been the hard work across the year
that’s allowed us to seal P7 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Congratulations to the team, including everyone at track and back at the
factory. Looking at the progress we’ve made, it’s a great achievement.
I’m also very proud of my performance, so I’ll give myself credit for
what has been my strongest year in Formula 1. The connection I have with
the team has allowed us to execute the season well, even when we’ve been
fighting race after race to hold our positions. Looking to next year,
we’ve got a challenge ahead of us but I’m already excited for what’s to
come."
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"he race
was difficult today, especially after Alex suffered a poor start and
lost five places immediately. Fortunately, he was able to recover and
complete a strong strategy, showing good pace on the Hard compound.
Logan followed a similar strategy and was able to fight with Daniel [Ricciardo]
before pitting and finishing strong with a series of good overtakes.
We weren’t able to race directly with AlphaTauri today but given that we
haven’t updated the car since mid-season, the fact that we have kept
them at bay over the last eight races is testament to us scoring well
when the car was competitive, and we continued to compete during the
flyaway events even as they brought upgrades to their car.
It is always difficult to defend a lead and allow yourself to be out
developed by rivals, but this was a conscious decision that will reap
reward over the coming years. The fact that we were able to hold 7th
place in the Constructors’ Championship is down to the continued hard
work and attention to detail from the whole team, both at the track and
throughout the entire Company back in Grove. Today itself was not
spectacular but as the culmination of a strong season, it marks a clear
upturn in our performance and lays the foundations for the coming years.
We now look forward to the final day of testing on Tuesday. Alex and
Logan will share one car with Franco and Zak splitting the day in the
other car. The trackside team will then take a well-earned rest before
we complete the preparations for the Bahrain test and the launch of
FW46."
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