Report: A challenging Monaco Grand Prix lies ahead after Qualifying

Alex Albon missed out on making it to Q2 by just seven hundredths of a second and will start the Monaco Grand Prix in P16, while Nicholas Latifi will line up P19 tomorrow after qualifying in Monte Carlo.

Both Williams drivers improved on their final runs in Q1 after a late red flag allowed all 20 drivers one last shot at hot laps.

Alex was first out of the pit lane and sat in P11 as he crossed the line with a 1:13.611 before being inched out the session by just 0.070s.

Nicky, who followed Alex out of the pits after the red flag stoppage, also beat his previous best time by setting a 1:14.403, remaining in P18 when the lap was complete and eventually dropping to P19 as others finished their laps.

Alex knows there was more in the car and couldn’t get the tyres working how he wanted for the final run, saying: “It’s a very frustrating result; I feel like we had much more to offer today.

“It’s such a tight window to get the tyres in the right place, and something like a red flag really disrupts our progress as everything cools down.

“I was happy with the laps that I did put in, and the car felt good, so from that perspective, it’s an even more frustrating day.

“These street tracks do seem to suit our car, so I think we were all hoping for more, but we’ll go again tomorrow and it’s possible that the weather may present some opportunities.”

Nicky felt the number 6 car wasn’t where he wanted it until late on: “In the free practice sessions, I was never comfortable with the car balance and only by qualifying did I get what I needed.

“That meant that I went into qualifying with a different car from FP1, FP2 and FP3, and it was a case of starting again to find the limits of a car.

“The car was much better in qualifying,” our No6 encouragingly added, “I was discovering a car that I felt I had much more potential in and a lot more lap time, but at the end, we had the red flag.

“It’s frustrating, I know I need to do better, and we also need to understand these issues with the car and reduce compromising our qualifying.”

Dave Robson, our Head of Vehicle Performance, explained that the Q1 strategy went well with finding clear air, but the red flag didn’t help.

“We managed to improve the car again overnight, and Alex particularly was very comfortable in FP3. We had a good plan for Q1, and both drivers had good opportunities on a clear track.

“The late red flag was very frustrating as it cost us the chance of setting our final lap when the track and tyres were in the best possible state.

“We led the pack out for the final lap scramble after the flag, but we couldn’t get the tyres back into the ideal state, and although both drivers improved, it wasn’t quite enough to qualify for Q2.”

Albono and Nicky weren’t the only Williams drivers racing on the Monaco streets. Roy Nissany and Logan Sargeant avoided the Monte Carlo barriers to finish the delayed Formula 2 Sprint Race in P9 and P10, respectively.

On home soil, Ollie Gray qualified in P3 at Thruxton this morning before going on to finish third during the afternoon’s Race 1. Ollie will enjoy two more races on Sunday, where he’ll look to add more silverware to his ever-growing collection.