REPORT: Alex, Franco and Luke start our final weekend of 2024

The final Grand Prix weekend of the 2024 season is underway and Williams Racing have had a steady start to proceedings.

Eyes of Williams fans were on Luke Browning as he made his FP1 bow, taking to the track alongside Franco Colapinto.

Both of our drivers were on similar run plans, completing laps on the medium and later the soft compound of tyres.

Luke would notch up 22 laps finishing in P20, with Franco adding a further 24 in FP1 and recording a time good enough for P7.

“It was thoroughly enjoyable to get my first taste of a Williams F1 car,” Luke shared after his outing. “Thank you to everyone at Williams for the opportunity and an amazing learning experience.

“It’s never easy hopping into an F1 car in an official session for the first time, but we built up slowly and brought the car home.

“I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel on Tuesday for the Young Driver Test.”

For FP2, Alex Albon returned to his FW46 for a session where the floodlights took effect in the most representative Practice session of the weekend.

Our Thai racer completed 22 laps as he got to grips with the small changes made around Yas Island this year, although his time on track was halted temporarily after a small issue. Nonetheless, his 1:24.269 was good enough for P9.

Across the other side of the garage, Franco could only add 10 laps to his total for the day, after he picked up some floor damage on his first soft push.

"We need to investigate what happened in FP2 further, but everything was okay in my shortened long run," Alex commented.

"It’s a shame to miss part of probably the most important weekend session, but I’m not unhappy as the car feels more competitive than in Qatar.

"We’ve got some work to do tonight and considering the 5-place grid penalty, the long run is crucial to understand.

"So, it’s not ideal but we’re taking it in our stride and will do our best to understand the car further."

Franco continued our Friday reflections by saying: "We were quite quick today, and everything was generally positive.

"During FP2, I ran a bit wide at the exit of Turn 9, and we had to bring the car back and unfortunately end our session early so that the team could assess the damage on the right part of the floor, which we’ll have to repair.

"We were really strong today, so I’m feeling good. It looks like a better weekend than Qatar, so we’ll work hard tonight and go again tomorrow."

Sven Smeets concluded our Friday reaction by sharing: "Luke did a good job in FP1 and will be looking forward to Tuesday when he can have a whole day of testing.

"Franco had a good FP1 but then had to stop in FP2 due to some floor damage that needed attention and repairs but up till then he was confident and showed good performance.

"Alex started his weekend in FP2 but was very quickly up to speed with the car.

"He will use FP3 tomorrow to find a better balance and more performance in the car, but first impressions are that we look more competitive than in Qatar."