Report: Best start to a season in six years secured

Williams Racing will leave the Bahrain International Circuit with a point to their name, our best result at an opening race since 2017.

The result is a testament to the countless hours of hard work produced by everyone both trackside and back at base in Grove.

We enjoyed a clean and positive start to the race under the lights in the Sakhir desert, with Alex and Logan both gaining positions in the opening exchanges, running P11 and P13 respectively after 10 laps.

Both of our drivers started on the soft tyre and boxed a lap apart for fresh red-walled tyres for their second stint, returning to the circuit in P10 and P13 after the first round of stops.

Our duo settled into their second stint before returning to the garage on either side of Lap 30, this time fitting the hard compound.

Alex was soon in a battle with Pierre Gasly before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was forced to pull over.

Soon after racing resumed, the Frenchman made a move on Alex, placing the Thai racer in P10, whilst Logan engaged in a battle with Zhou Guanyu for P12.

The American rookie bided his time before making his move stick with 10 laps to go, passing the Alfa Romeo driver at Turn 4.

As the chequered flag drew closer, Alex was fending off Yuki Tsunoda, but the No22 was met with stern resistance from our No23 and found no way past.

Alex crossed the line in P10, our best opening round result since Felipe Massa’s P6 at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix.

“In my opinion, we were out of position on the grid due to a tricky qualifying session but we had a really good start,” Albono shared after the Grand Prix.

“(We) made up some positions off the line and then had our elbows out at a couple of moments during the race.

“We were strong, we were fighting and our race pace was better than expected. It was a tough race, with a lot of management, but we made it work.

“We’re maybe not quite midfield pace, but we’re close and to get a point in the first race is pretty amazing.

“I’m super happy and super proud of the team; it was a job well done by everyone at Williams Racing.”

Sarge ended the day as the highest-placed rookie and was elated after completing his maiden F1 race by finishing P12.

“I absolutely loved every second of my debut race. The first time going off the line was special.

“I'm proud of the team, I think we outperformed everything we expected coming from testing.

“Congratulations to Alex and everyone at Williams Racing for scoring the first point of the season.

“From myself, everything went smoothly from race start to pit stops to Virtual Safety Car.

“Hopefully, we can use this as a good base and continue to make progress throughout the year. “

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance, completed our reaction by summarising his view of proceedings from the pit wall.

“After the frustration of yesterday, today was a good comeback that got our season off to a strong start.

“Although scoring a point is always rewarding, there are significantly more positives to take from today.

“Alex drove expertly, exactly as we know he can, and he was able to gain places and then defend strongly whilst managing his tyres to the end.

“Logan enjoyed a fantastic opening race, which has taught him a huge amount about racing in Formula One; he didn’t make a single mistake, was measured in attack and was good with his tyres.

“He and his team have worked very hard to get to this position and they took their opportunity very well.

“This is only the first race of a long season. We have a lot of work to do but we now have some momentum to build upon and carry forward into the next races in Saudi Arabia and Australia.”