Belgian GP: Impressive Qualifying for Williams Racing
By Andrew Hooper
August 27 2022
Despite the fact that one car would finish 17th qualifying for the 2022 Belgian GP would still end up been an impressive one for Williams Racing with one car finishing 9th having made it into the final period of qualifying. The car that was down in 17th was that of Nicholas Latifi and even though he was well down the order he was the smallest of margins in making into Q2. The car in Q3 was that of Alex Albon having made it into this period for the first time for Alex. But even more fascinating is the fact that with other drivers penalties due to Power Unit breaches the pair would on initial examination be starting Sundays race from 6th and 11th seeing the Williams team with a fantastic opportunity to secure a good result.
| Williams Racing Belgian GP Qualifying |
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Team Summary: |
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| So with just one
Williams making it into Q2 the second period would get underway and
Verstappen would go quickest with a 1m:44.723 followed by Perez, Sainz,
Ocon, Norris, Alonso, Russell, Gasly, Hamilton and the remaining Williams
tenth. This would become 11th as Leclerc went sixth. All fifteen drivers
would pit with Leclerc being the last. After a short break they would return
for their second runs with the last car to come out being a Williams. The
only drivers not to come back out were the Red Bull cars. With the final
laps been completed Leclerc would go quickest with a 1m:44.551 followed by
Verstappen., Perez, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Ocon, Alonso, Norris and Alex
tenth for the first time in a Williams Racing car. The final period of qualifying would see the Williams go quickest but Perez then Verstappen would go quicker with Verstappen setting a time of 1m:43.665. Sainz was second followed by Perez, Ocon, Norris, Russell, Alex, and Hamilton with Leclerc and Alonso yet to set a time. Verstappen would not return as he was one of those drivers to be receiving penalties for Power Unit changes. Norris would also not return for the same reason. With their final runs Sainz would remain second behind Verstappen with Perez third followed by Leclerc, Ocon, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Alex and Norris tenth. But there would be numerous grid penalties to be applied before the final grid will be decided. |
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Alex Albon: Nicholas Latifi: |
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P6 (due to penalties to other drivers!)
A pleasent surprise. Hopefully we can keep momentum during the race and Miss. Fortuna will protect us.
So:
1. Is the new aerodynamic update the only reason behind good performance ?
2 Nice to hear a summary by Dave Robson, Head of Performance, The Chef himself. Wish we hear from him after EVERY race in 2023.
He does not get fancy about starting i 3'ed row.
"it does mean that we will need to play a fairly defensive strategy tomorrow.” he says.
....
Lets no get carried away..
Bring both cars home must be a priority.
Hopefully at least we end the day on a high. It would mean so much for Dorilton and all of the team and their daily strive to be taken more seriously by the other teams and making progress, at the factory in Oxfordshire.
I would looked forward to the day when our Chef ingeneur, before a race, will say:
"Lets attack the cars in front of us. We know we have a very strong engine and aero-package, lets benefit and make the competitors know, we're able to challenge them on a very high level."
Nice, though, this qualifying was a success for one of our cars.
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:27:23:20:17 by peterdebel.