Formula 1

Williams Racing’s Dave Robson: “We can be pleased with what we achieved”

2 Mins read
Credit: Williams Racing

Despite the challenging weather conditions and a shaky start to the Mexico City Grand Prix, Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams Racing, Dave Robson is proud of what the team achieved on Sunday despite Nicholas Latifi struggling with car damage early on in the race.

After a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday, where the two Williams drivers ended up at the very back of the grid in the nineteenth and twentieth position, Robson was “very pleased” with what the team achieved and was glad the team managed to deliver on pace, which made the car competitive amongst their competitors.

“Following a frustrating day yesterday, we can be very pleased with how we performed today. Racing in Mexico City is always challenging but we were able to get the car into a pretty good place such that it was easily managed and had good pace relative to our competitors.”

Similar to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Williams were hoping the Hard tyre would unlock the car’s potential and allow Latifi to improve his race and deliver a competitive pace. However, it seemed that the white-walled tyres did exactly the opposite and significantly harmed Latifi’s race as his pace began to deteriorate.

“We pitted Nicholas early for the Hard tyre but unfortunately this was a poor tyre today and, coupled with some car damage, it harmed Nicky’s race. We were able to leave Alex out on his Medium tyre whilst we monitored the performance of the cars that started the race on Soft. Once it became clear that a Medium-Soft one-stop was possible we were able to commit to this with Alex.” 

Whilst Latifi was trying to keep up with the rest of the grid, his team-mate, Alex Albon, kept the car under control in the humid conditions and drove “very well” in order to get aggressive with his driving and execute superb overtaking, sailing past Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver Sebastian Vettel, and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver, Zhou Guanyu.

“Once again, he drove very well to battle aggressively with Gasly, Vettel, Zhou and Bottas. To finish so close to the Alfa Romeo which qualified 6th, especially after a tricky race start, was very satisfying but also hints at what might have been possible with a better grid position.

“It has been a hard couple of weeks racing in the USA and Mexico, but we can be pleased with what we achieved and how we coped with the conditions.”

Credit: Williams Racing
Avatar photo
57 posts

About author
English Graduate from University of Southampton, PR executive aspiring to move into motorsports PR. Based in North London.
Articles
Related posts
Formula 1Open WheelTCR EuropeTouring Cars

Second-Generation Stars Set to Shine at 2024 FIA Motorsport Games

1 Mins read
Four second-generation racing stars will compete at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia. Luca Magnussen, Oscar Wurz, Rocco Coronel, and Eric Gene will aim for gold medals in various categories.
Formula 1Historic RacingIndyCar

GP of Long Beach introduces Historic Formula Exhibition for 2025

2 Mins read
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will host two 20-minute races for historic open-wheelers like Sébastien Bourdais’ 2005 winner and Mario Andretti’s 1977 United States Grand Prix West-winning Lotus.
Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo Replaced by Liam Lawson at VCARB

2 Mins read
Liam Lawson will be driving in Austin, as he replaces Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB.