REPORT: Points From Wet-Dry Belgian GP

Alex Albon earned eight points for a P6 finish in another rain-affected Belgian GP after a strong defensive drive from the third row of Spa-Francorchamps, while Carlos Sainz finished in P18.

A shower before lights out turned into a downpour and delayed the race start by 80 minutes after race control ordered all cars back to the pit lane following the initial Safety Car-led Formation Lap.

The drying weather soon had the 20 drivers touring the track behind the Safety Car for four laps to improve visibility, and the delay nullified Carlos' pit lane start after making setup changes overnight.

Our Spaniard went straight on the attack, taking on Lance Stroll for P16 and taking the place from the Aston Martin driver into the final chicane after coming close earlier at Les Combes.

It was a different story at the front, as George Russell's Mercedes outdragged Alex's FW47 on the Kemmel Straight, demoting Albono to P6.

Carlos slipped back, too, with a charging Lewis Hamilton making three positions in a single lap, dropping our No.55 back to P17.

Lap 12 saw the start of pit stop activity as four drivers in the bottom 10 gambled on Medium Pirelli rubber earlier as a dry line emerged on the 7.004 km track.

It proved the right call, and both Atlassian Williams Racing cars stopped on the next lap for Mediums, but the undercut of the earlier stoppers had Carlos dropping back and emerging behind Stroll again.

Alex, meanwhile, had Hamilton for company on his out lap after the Ferrari driver's dry tyre pace jumped him up the order, but Alex's precision driving proved too much to overcome despite the mounting pressure.

Carlos began to make progress by speeding past Isack Hadjar for P18, and then undercutting Franco Colapinto on Lap 30 when switching to Hard tyres.

Unfortunately, that second pit stop wasn't a common strategy, and Carlos had to settle for P18 without any hope to advance after setting his car up for wet conditions.

Alex spent his Sunday under attack from Hamilton, who repeatedly got close exiting La Source, but could not get by Alex on the Kemmel Straight, despite enjoying DRS.

Our No.23 crossed the line in P6 for eight well-earned points to solidify our P5 in the World Constructors' Championship standings.

James Vowles congratulated Alex over the radio, saying, "Well done, Alex. Really strong drive from you today. We'll learn from that P6, defending every lap. Brilliant, brilliant job."

Alex acknowledged the role the team played in the result, and replied, "Thanks James. The package was working well, so thank you everyone.

"Thank you to the factory for getting that early. Thanks for the hard work."

Speaking after the race, Alex shared his thoughts by saying, "I’m really happy; we’re top of the midfield so that’s always nice and I managed to hold off Lewis, which is never easy.

"I struggled a little bit in the rain, which is to be expected, so I lost that position to George early on but after that, we settled in and were able to maintain position and finish strong.

"It was important to not make mistakes with Lewis behind, but I think his downforce worked in our favour.

"As a team we did a great job as it’s not easy beating those top teams, so it’s good to see our package is working well."

Carlos explained how his Sunday went, and said, "Following a costly set-up change yesterday before Qualifying, our starting position meant we had little to lose, so we took a gamble to start from the pit lane, changing the car to a wet configuration.

"Unfortunately, with the Red Flag during the worst of the weather, the race was dry, and it clearly didn’t work in our favour.

"We also had an issue with my pit stop, so it was a bit of a disappointing race all together.

"However, on the positive side, the Sprint was very strong and today the new package worked well on Alex’s car, so I look forward to next week."

James Vowles, Atlassian Williams Racing's Team Principal, summarised our Belgian trip:

"A strong weekend for us, with Alex finishing P6 in today’s Race and Carlos finishing P6 in the Sprint Race yesterday. It was difficult conditions all round.

"With Alex, he drove a focused race. Didn't put a foot wrong. We did a good pitstop and a good strategy helping him to hold on to that P6, despite having to defend against Lewis for most of the race.

"In the case of Carlos, we took a gamble this morning that the race would be wet for longer.

"We, like a number of other teams, fitted a slightly larger rear wing at the end.

"We only did around about ten laps in those wet conditions, and that car set-up is quite a bit slower in drier conditions. So that did not pay off today.

"But from where we were starting, it was a sensible choice to try and provide some learning, understanding and opportunity to Carlos later in the race.

"We did not execute Carlos’ pitstop well. We’ll review this and make sure that we progress across the season, operating at the highest level possible.

"Going forward though, what I'm encouraged by is that this package is working.

"It was a strong weekend, yet it's still a tight midfield, but I’m looking forward to these next races where we'll also deliver."