Williams
Williams were another team to run a rookie on Friday at Silverstone, with Colapinto stepping into Sargeant’s car for his first FP1 appearance where he completed 24 laps. Albon experimented with set-ups between sessions and ended the day in 13th on the timesheets. Despite missing first practice, Sargeant seemed to get back up to speed quickly in FP2 and was left feeling positive about the day.
Alex Albon – FP1: 1:28.649, P16; FP2: 1:27.645, P13
“A mixed day overall. Long runs are looking promising, and the car feels good to drive relative to last year.
“As a Qualifying car, there’s some work to do. We experimented quite a lot with set-up and tyres between the two sessions, and we haven’t quite got the right balance yet.
“We’ll look at the data tonight and come back stronger. With a bit of British weather and some fine-tuning, I think we’re in with a chance of Q3 tomorrow.”
Logan Sargeant – FP2: 1:27.809, P17
“My first time missing FP1, so I knew I was going to have to make the step up quickly in FP2 and I feel like we did that.
“I came out the gate strong on low fuel which was positive. I feel like we were immediately in a good place with some clear little bits to work on.
“High fuel is a bit of a different story as there’s definitely work to do from my side. Hopefully, we can have a better weekend, but we’ll have to wait and see when everyone goes for it tomorrow. Overall, today’s been a pretty strong start.”
Franco Colapinto – FP1: 1:29.078, P18
“My first FP1 done! I enjoyed every lap, every corner of it, and I did the best I could.
“It was an amazing experience. There was much more on the table, and I couldn’t maximise some corners, which I was getting better at on the long runs, but of course, it’s difficult on old tyres.
“I’m delighted that Williams has given me this opportunity, the support that I’ve received from the team has been on another level.
“I’m super proud of what we’ve achieved, but now I need to keep working so I can get back here one day.”
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director
“Overall, it has been a positive day today.
“Earlier this afternoon, we had Franco doing his first FP1 for us and he did a solid job, improving his lap times every time he left the garage.
“He then qualified 4th in F2 Qualifying an hour later so he can look back on a good day.
“Alex changed the set-up of the car quite significantly between FP1 and FP2 and this had a positive effect on the performance of the car, especially on the long runs.
“They seemed competitive this afternoon, but we still have some issues with the balance of the car on low fuel, so we need to improve that overnight ahead of FP3.
“Logan got up to speed quickly after missing FP1 and is reasonably happy with the car on low fuel but was missing some performance in the race run.
“We will be working hard tonight to find some extra performance for tomorrow. The weather forecast is changing nearly every hour so there is everything to play for in Qualifying.”
