Dutch GP: Surprising Friday Practice for Williams Racing


By Williams Racing
August 26 2023

The opening Friday practice sessions for the 2023 Dutch GP woud see the Williams Racing Team come away with some positive if somewhat surprising results from the sessions. The pace of the FW45 was quite good but making assumptions about the rest of the weekend can sometimes be difficult. For Alex his Friday would see him finish 3rd and even with the uncertainties over his competition Alex was feeling quite positive at the end of the day. As for Logan Sargeant he was pleased with his first run at the Zandvoort track. He would finish 12th after FP2 in what was a good start to the weekend. Saturday is reported to have mixed weather conditions so it will be interesting to see how the team progresses going into qualifying.

 
 Williams Racing Dutch GP Friday Practice Review
Sargeant
 

Sargeant 

Logan Sargeant:
"It’s my first time driving here in Zandvoort and it’s nice! It’s a rollercoaster that’s for sure, and it reminds me of a quicker version of Monaco. It’s been a pretty good Friday; we’ve had the car in a good window since we put it on the ground this morning, the high fuel runs seem to look pretty good and I feel comfortable. We’re in a good place and now it’s about fine tuning. The weather looks pretty tricky tomorrow so that’s probably going to throw a curveball as it has on a lot of weekends this year but, all in all, it’s been a good start. I’m ready to have a good day tomorrow. "

Albon 
 

Alex Albon:
"We’ve seen this before and obviously don’t know what everyone else is doing, however the car felt good from the moment we touched down in FP1. It’s a bit surprising if I’m honest and I'm sure everyone will make a big step forward tomorrow, but we’ll try hold on and keep the position. The traffic tomorrow will be tough, with the need to manage the tyres well but it keeps you on your toes. I don’t think today’s pace is representative of the field but either way we’re still in a good place. It’s going to be tight, though I’m feeling quite positive."

 

Robson

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"
It was good to get a full day of dry running done under a standard event format. We started FP1 in a good place and with the setup well suited to the conditions. We tried a few things in FP2, and we now need to decide what was better and what wasn’t.

The pace of the car wasn’t too bad today but it’s always difficult to know here as cars don’t always get clear laps and the tyres can be tricky to manage.

The weather for the next two days is likely to change a bit with a small threat of rain and a change in wind direction. We have a decent baseline, but we will still need to keep on top of the evolving conditions if we are to get a good result on Sunday."

 
Albon
 
Sargeant
 
Practice Classification Dutch GP:
Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands | 4.259 km
 
Driver   FP1 FP2
 
A. Albon   1:12.447 (5th)   1:11.599 (3rd)
 
L Sargeant   1:12.617 (7th)   1:11.934 (12th)
Sargeant