Report: A disrupted day in Mexico

A second FP1 session for Logan Sargeant in as many Fridays kickstarted our weekend in Mexico City as our Williams Driver Academy ace stepped in for Alex Albon in the FW44.

Red flags interrupted FP1, but the young American took everything in his stride as Logan continued familiarising himself with the F1 Grand Prix weekend.

It was Nicky’s turn to take on full Friday duties after sitting out FP1 in Austin. The Canadian clocked up 54 laps around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in total, giving the team valuable data.

Alex returned to the cockpit in FP2, where Pirelli ran another 2023 prototype tyre test for the third successive Grand Prix. Unfortunately, a lengthy red flag limited Alex’s track time, who will look to Saturday’s FP3 to find the best setup for Qualifying and the Grand Prix.

Fresh from his second hour with the FW44, Logan gave his thoughts on FP1: “I was definitely a lot more comfortable coming into today.”

“Everything slowed down a lot and it was easier to build a rhythm and learn the track.”

“All in all, it was a good step forward and good progress from last weekend.”

“Overall today was an okay start to the weekend,” summarised Nicky after clocking up the highest lap count from the Williams drivers on his second visit to Mexico City.

“It was a little bit disrupted with many yellow and red flags and FP2 having the tyre test which was unrepresentative.

“A decent Friday to learn about the baseline of the car. There are definitely some clear directions to go into tomorrow to find more lap time.”

There was limited time for Alex to learn in FP2. He briefly ran the soft tyres before switching focus to Pirelli’s mandated 2023 prototype programme: “We did one lap today on the tyres we’re using this weekend so not a very productive day.”

“We’ve got the cooling and the race package ready for the weekend so that’s a positive in terms of getting up to speed.

“We’re a bit off but that’s expected when considering the one representative lap, so it’s a bit frustrating in some ways but we’ve got a good platform and baseline to work on for tomorrow.”

With two red flags in each practice session punctuating the running and minimal setup changes possible in FP2, Dave Robson, our Head of Vehicle Performance, had a stop-start Friday: “We have had a very disrupted day, with the red flags costing us some valuable track time.

“Logan did a very good job this morning in difficult conditions and between him and Nicholas, they were able to evaluate some of the cooling options that we will need this weekend.

Dave explained that Alex’s already-shortened day was even briefer: “Alex was late starting FP2 following an issue with setting the PU cooling system and this meant that he was only able to complete a single timed lap before moving on to the Pirelli tyre testing

“Whilst this was frustrating and not ideal preparation for his weekend, he was able to complete the high fuel running and understand what the car limitations will be on Sunday.

“With the race car preparation complete, both drivers can concentrate on qualifying preparation during FP3 tomorrow.

“There is a bit of work to do to tune the car for low fuel, but following some analysis tonight, this will be achievable tomorrow morning.”