REPORT: Grid Set in Spielberg

Published on
28 Jun 2025
Est. reading time
3 Min

Alex Albon will line up P12 with Carlos Sainz in P19 following a difficult Qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring

Atlassian Williams Racing will be aiming forwards on Sunday after a tricky Qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring.
Alex Albon will start in P12 whilst Carlos Sainz will start P19, with both reporting problems over the team radio during the session.
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Both drivers needed a lap as we entered the final five minutes of Q1, with Alex recording a 1:05.143 to finish the opening phase in P9. Sadly for Carlos, in a session where just nine-tenths split the entire field, he could only record a 1:05.582, immediately reporting “there’s damage for sure, the car is undrivable.”
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Into Q2 and Alex’s first lap on used tyres placed him P11. He then went for new Soft rubber and was two green sectors up when the red flag was flown for a grass fire on the start/finish straight.
With it all on the line with time for one more lap, Alex’s 1:05.205 placed him P12 – “I think if we didn’t have the damage, we’d be through” he shared on his in lap.
Alex delved into the limitations further when he got out of the cockpit, saying, "We collected some damage on the floor during Q1, and the mechanics did a fantastic job to tape up as much as we could to go back out.
"Our Q2 run on fresh tyres had to be aborted due to the red flag, and despite using old tyres on a damaged car, we still qualified P12 so I’m pretty happy with that.
"There were some glimpses of pace in Q1 but we couldn't replicate the same lap times while carrying damage.
"I’m still really happy with the execution of Q2 and, without damage, we had a car capable of reaching Q3.
"Tomorrow I hope there will be some good racing and we can try to have a good result; I’m optimistic we can go and get some points."
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Carlos summarised his Saturday by saying, "A frustrating Qualifying. We had a brake issue from the start of the session which was making the car pull massively to one side and I ended up picking up floor damage which made the car undriveable.
"Overall, we need to pull together as a team and review what’s causing this run of form in Qualifying and on the Soft tyre.
"For tomorrow, we seemed to have good race pace yesterday so I will give it all to recover and get into the points."
Team Principal James Vowles explained the damage origin further: "We found floor damage on both Carlos and Alex's cars during the session.
"The kerbs here are aggressive and we need to use every millimetre of the track in order to be competitive in what is a very tight field, but that cost both drivers performance today.
"We will be able to repair that overnight and we'll come back tomorrow fighting.
"The race car on Friday was good and I still expect us to have a quick car come tomorrow, but we have a lot of ground to cover."
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