James Vowles shares what ‘frustrated’ Alex Albon told him immediately after agonising Q2 exit at Zandvoort

Follow us on Google Discover

Alex Albon shared his fury in a team radio message following the conclusion of the second qualifying after finding out that he wouldn’t be progressing to the top 10 shootout.

Oscar Piastri ended up taking pole position ahead of Lando Norris at the Dutch circuit, besting his McLaren teammate by just 0.012s as the track record was smashed multiple times over the course of the three sessions.

The early departure for Albon marked his fourth Q2 exit of the season, with the Thai driver usually finding himself within the top 10 on the grid at the majority of the Grands Prix so far this season.

Williams has seen a drop in performance in recent months after a hot start to the current campaign. With the team seemingly going backwards, Williams are worried that Carlos Sainz missed out on the best version of their F1 car as he continues to get to grips with it.

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

Alex Albon had a ‘tiny’ difference in speed at one corner, which cost him a ticket to Q3

During Sky Sports F1’s coverage of qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix, David Croft spoke to James Vowles following Albon’s exit in Q2. The Thai driver was furious in a radio message with his race engineer upon learning he was out of qualifying and would start from 15th.

Speaking to Vowles, Croft highlighted the effort from Carlos Sainz, who made it through to Q3 in a tightly contested session, to which the Williams team principal replied, “Yeah, you summarised it well, it’s close.

“Really good job from [Carlos Sainz], and then from Alex, it was just tyres from there, you heard him on the radio, I suspect. He had a slightly different outlap, and he just didn’t get them into the right place, but still looking forward to this next session.”

Vowles was then asked if Albon’s fury on the team radio was warranted. “No, I think he would, as you and I would, as well,” Vowles responded, before sharing the conversation he had with Albon upon his return to the garage.

“You’re frustrated immediately afterwards. I was just having a chat with him in the garage, and the biggest thing was just a tiny speed difference through one corner, ultimately, but it snowballs on from there. He’s frustrated, I’m frustrated, and I think we had a car that should have been closer than that.

Sainz ended up securing the ninth fastest lap in Q3 to mark his best qualifying performance since his start from sixth on the grid at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May.

READ MORE: Williams star Alex Albon’s life outside F1 with net worth, girlfriend to parents

Alex Albon shared his concerns about the Zandvoort track ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix

The Zandvoort circuit hasn’t been the kindest track to Alex Albon in recent years, with the Thai driver only scoring points at one of the three races he has taken part in on the Dutch tarmac.

In a recent podcast leading up to the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Albon shared his concerns about the Zandvoort track, specifically with how narrow it is. Despite calling it ‘ridiculous’, the Williams driver also noted that the narrowness of the circuit is also what makes it so good.

With the undulating nature of the circuit, understeer is an issue that has been rife during practice sessions throughout the weekend.

It has been one of the many issues Lewis Hamilton has been dealing with at Ferrari this weekend, with the issue sending him into one of his two 360-degree spins he experienced during FP1 on Friday morning.

Max Verstappen also suffered from understeer at Zandvoort during last year’s iteration of qualifying for the Dutch GP. Martin Brundle called it ‘horrible’ after watching the Dutchman fight the car during one of his flying laps.