After both Williams Racing cars failed to make it out of Qualifying One at the Suzuka International Racing Course, the team’s Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson, has spoken on his disappointment to once again fall short in qualifying in the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season.
Alex Albon would miss out on a Qualifying Two berth by the narrowest of margins as just half a tenth was the difference between the Thai driver and Sebastian Vettel, as the German driver would secure the final place into Q2.
Albon suggested that his reason for failing to reach Q2 was because of a disrupted out-lap due to traffic in the final sector, leaving the Williams driver unable to put his tyre temperatures in the correct window by the time of his final flying lap. Robson shared a similar sentiment with his driver when explaining why Albon failed to reach Q2.
“The car had the pace for Q2 today and so to miss out again is disappointing. We needed to get everything right to progress and we didn’t manage that today; we need to look at the session and understand how to be better. The tyres need careful preparation to get a good lap out of them and with Alex having to slow down for the cars ahead just before opening his lap, he couldn’t get the perfect preparation.”
While for Nicholas Latifi, the Canadian driver was able to rebound from a tough showing in Free Practice Three where he stated that his FW44 was struggling with the wind speeds around Suzuka. Ultimately, Latifi’s improvements into qualifying would prove to not be enough as he finished the slowest of the grid in Q1.
Robson noted that Latifi made a number of changes to the set-up of his FW44 heading into qualifying, which allowed the Canadian driver to close the margin to the rest of the field, where he would miss out on a place in Q2 by just two and a half tenths.
“Nicholas made some sizeable changes to his car after FP3 and although these were in a good direction and gave him a more competitive car for qualifying, he couldn’t maximise the performance in the two laps that he had in Q1.“
Even with both driver’s starting Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix towards the back of the grid, Robson is hopeful that the threat of rain expected during Sunday’s race could help propel Williams into the fight for a positive finish.
“It looks certain that there will be rain at some point tomorrow and this could easily affect the grand prix. Although we are starting the race from further back than we expected, there should be opportunities to get back to a good position before the chequered flag.”
