Dutch GP: Williams Racing Grand Prix Preview

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
Zandvoort provides quite a different challenge to last weekend in Spa with the circuit configuration being considerably different and the tyre compounds being a step harder. The hard C1 compound was previously taken to Bahrain, Barcelona and Silverstone and could be a tricky compound this weekend. However, the Medium and Soft compounds are likely to work well.

The banking and elevation changes at this track were easier to accommodate than we first feared last year, and by qualifying we had the car in a decent window. That experience should allow us to start Friday in a good position and give us opportunities to both explore the tyre behaviour thoroughly and allow to Alex to familiarise himself with the circuit.
We enjoyed a good weekend in Spa. However, whilst the car performance was good at the low downforce level and Alex was able to drive a very strong defensive race, we know that we also benefited from a lot of grid penalties for our competitors. This weekend should be more difficult, but we have some momentum and confidence from Spa which will be invaluable as we take the fight to the midfield at a circuit less naturally suited to the FW44.

Alex Albon:
Coming out of a successful weekend, we know Zandvoort is a very different track to Spa and we’ll need to adapt to the different requirements, with a much higher downforce and on a difficult track for overtaking. Saturday will be an important day for us and, whilst we’d like to have a repeat of Spa, that will obviously be slightly difficult. I haven’t raced at this circuit since 2015, so will work to leverage Friday and Saturday to learn the track and see what we can play for over the weekend.

Nicholas Latifi:
I’m excited to get going at Zandvoort for the second round of this triple-header. Going back to Zandvoort last year was very enjoyable. It’s an old-school track and probably one of the more fun single lap qualis on the calendar. There are high-speed corners, banked corners and it’s very narrow with little room for error which makes it a track with a lot of unique characteristics. The fan atmosphere really made it something special last year and I’m sure it’ll be the same again.