Alexander Albon is hoping that arriving at Silverstone without penalties means the Scuderia Toro Rosso can battle for points.
The Thai driver was forced to start at the back of the grid two weeks ago at the Red Bull Ring due to penalties for changing elements of his power unit.
The last couple of races in France and Austria have been tough for Albon as the Toro Rosso struggled for pace but without any grid penalties for the British Grand Prix this weekend, Albon is optimistic that the work put in over the last two races can help them in the midfield battle.
“We had a tough time at the last two rounds and in Austria, we tackled practice in a slightly different way, as we knew I’d be starting from the back of the grid because of the PU change penalties.
“We tried to understand the car a bit better as it had not worked the way we wanted in France.
“In Austria, we tried to unlock it’s potential, but we had similar issues to Paul Ricard, even if to a lesser extent.
“Coming to the British GP, without penalties on the plan we will be starting the race from the actual qualifying position and, after having analysed lots of data from the last two races, we hope we will be able to battle in the tight midfield successfully.”
Albon has driven at Silverstone before in GP3 back in 2016 and in Formula 2 for the past two years.
Driving for ART Grand Prix in GP3, Albon won the feature race and last year won the feature race for DAMS in Formula 2 so has good memories of Silverstone.
“Silverstone is actually one of the tracks I’ve driven on the least.
“I think I’ve only raced there four times.
“I really like it and I have good memories of winning the Feature Race there last year in F2.
“Actually, I almost forgot I won the GP3 race there, starting from pole.”
Silverstone is one of the favourite tracks amongst drivers and Albon says that’s because it feels like a “roller coaster” and can be a good fun.
“I think every driver loves Silverstone because even if I’ve not actually driven there in an F1 car yet, I’m sure it’s the sort of track where these fantastic cars really come to life, making use of all that downforce through the high-speed stuff.
“Maggotts and Becketts are really cool and I’m sure in an F1 car it’s going to be like a roller coaster.
“You can get into a good rhythm there as all the corners flow into one another – really good fun.”
