Franco and Zak reflect on the Post-Season Test

The 2023 Formula 1 season is officially complete following the conclusion of the Post-Season Test at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Up first for the day were Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto, with our young Argentinian racer getting his very first outing in F1 machinery.

“It’s been incredible to get my first taste of a Formula 1 car and to do it with Williams Racing,” shared the 20-year-old, who became the first person from his country to drive an F1 car since 2001.

“It’s hard to describe all the emotions, sensations and feelings I’ve gone through today. Since I was very little, I’ve been dreaming of this moment of one day jumping in a Formula 1 car.

“Being able to drive the FW45 was an amazing experience. It’s been a great way to finish my first year as part of the Williams Racing Driver Academy.

“I tried to make the most of every lap and learn as much as possible. I’m very grateful to everyone at Williams Racing for giving me this opportunity and the support they’ve shown.”

During the first half of the day, Alex completed 51 laps doing the 2024 Pirelli tyre test, with a best time of 1:27.824, with Franco notching 65 laps and a fastest time of 1:26.832.

For the final four hours of running, it was over to Logan Sargeant and Zak O’Sullivan, with the 2023 F3 vice-champion getting further running to add to his FP1 outing last Friday.

“It’s been an enjoyable day,” Zak commented, adding: “Of course, for me, it was good to have the reference from FP1, so I had a few areas to work on from there.

“Straight away from the first push lap, I was able to match my pace from earlier in the week. It was good to get some proper representative running in also in quite relevant conditions in the middle of the day which was nice.

“We got through a good sweep of performance runs and race runs. I had more freedom to experiment with things and push a bit harder than FP1.

“Thanks again to Williams Racing for the opportunity to drive the FW45 this weekend and provide me with valuable experience.”

Like Alex, Logan was taking part in the 2024 tyre test, registering 56 laps with his best time being 1:25.263.

Zak recorded 50 laps, with his fastest time being a 1:25.842.

Our Head of Vehicle Performance, Dave Robson, had plenty of data to mull over from the pit wall and is looking forward to taking some important learnings into the development of our next challenger.

“Today was the final day of running in 2023 and we completed our programmes as planned,” Dave reflected.

“The two cars completed 222 laps between them with Alex and Logan sharing the day in one car and Franco and Zak driving the Young Driver car.

“Franco was very good this morning, completing more than 300km without any issues and at good pace.

“He experienced several of the Pirelli compounds and provided some valuable feedback and interesting comments about the FW45.

“Zak was very quickly up to speed following his running in FP1. He quickly got accustomed to the improved track conditions and was able to find a good rhythm at low and high fuel.

“He was able to maximise the learning he got on Friday to manage the tyres well and this helped him improve his lap time.

“It was nice to finish the season with a clean and productive day and to end the FW45 running on a high.

“The whole team have worked tirelessly since February to operate and develop this car and, alongside our colleagues from Mercedes, we can be proud of what we have achieved.

“The travelling team now join the factory-based team in switching our full focus to FW46 and we are already looking forward to shaking it down in a couple of months’ time.”