REPORT: Limited track time on Friday in Imola

Read what Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant and Sven Smeets have said after FP1 and FP2 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Published

17 MAY 2024

Est. reading time

3 min

It has been a day of limited track time for Williams Racing during Friday Practice at Imola.

Alex Albon suffered an electrical issue in the early stages of FP1, pulling to the side of the track at Acque Minerale and bringing out the red flag.

With Logan Sargeant our only remaining driver in the session, he managed to clock up 22 tours of this famous venue in the opening 60 minutes of track time, ending up in P18.

Both of our cars had a delayed return to the track in FP2, but our duo were soon out there with 40 minutes left to run.

In a condensed session from their point of view, Alex and Logan rattled through their shortened run plan and ended the day in P18 and P20 respectively.

How we fared in FP2

“We’re obviously a little behind on track time today after the electrical issue I suffered in FP1,” Alex shared.

“It took a while to find the issue and then fix it, however the team did a great job of getting the car back out.

“It’s a difficult one because the car actually felt amazing out there; I don’t know whether it’s the track or the wind, but I feel like the car is on rails yet I’m P18, so we’ve got some work to do.

“Despite this, I’m enjoying it and it’s nice to come to a proper track. It’s not going to be easy but I’m happy with our progress so hopefully we can unlock some more.”

Logan continued our reaction by adding: “For sure FP2 was quite heavily compromised; we only got a couple of laps on low fuel, on which we had a little trouble getting the tyre working, so that’s the main topic to focus on.

“The balance of the car is in a good place but we’re not getting everything working as it should around it, so we need to figure that out. I’m really enjoying the track, it’s really cool and it’s on the edge.

“Tomorrow will be tricky, but we’ll do our best to get everything out of it.”

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director, completed our Friday reaction by saying: “The day didn’t start well with Alex stopping early in FP1 and missing valuable track time.

“The team did a great job of getting the car ready again, but we only managed to finish a compromised run plan with Alex.

“Unfortunately, Logan also lost a lot of running time in FP2 and only had 1 lap on the Soft tyre.

“We have a lot of fine tuning to do before Qualifying tomorrow but both drivers are confident that we will have a competitive package to start Qualifying.

“There is still a small chance for some showers during the race so Sunday could become a day with lots of opportunities.”

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