REPORT: An incredible afternoon in Italy

Williams Racing left Monza with points for the fourth consecutive season after Alex Albon secured a P9 finish at the Temple of Speed.

Both Alex and debutant Franco Colapinto executed excellent one-stop strategies in 53 non-stop laps of Italian action.

Franco advanced from a P18 start to a P12 finish, making his maiden Formula 1 race memorable as he looked at home on the grid.

The entire grid was well-behaved in the opening lap, and the two FW46 cars held position during the opening tour.

Alex held onto P9 at the head of F1's second pack of cars, keeping a chasing Fernando Alonso at bay.

It wasn't long before Franco completed his first F1 career overtake, passing the sister Aston Martin of Lance Stroll at the inside of Turn 1 to reach P17.

While Alex maintained his hold at the front of the battle for P8, Franco continued his familiarisation by getting wheel-to-wheel and slowly picking up places.

Williams Racing held firm as others chose to pit, eventually swapping for Hard Pirelli rubber several laps after most of our rivals, opening the door for a one-stop strategy.

That decision proved critical for our race against the Aston Martins when Franco, then Alex, pitted, with Alonso undercutting Alex, and Stroll filling Franco's mirrors.

Another dimension to this year's Italian GP added complexity, too, as our rivals around both cars picked up penalties for on-track incidents.

Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo carried time infringements, meaning they'd fall behind in the final classification – if Alex and Franco were close by.

As the laps ticked by, Magnussen passed Alex as Albono suffered with some front-left tyre life, while Franco made more passes to get past Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas.

Alonso pitted again, moving Alex into P10, and emerged behind Franco on the track with much fresher tyres thanks to his two-stop strategy, but the Argentine slowed him enough.

Although Alonso got by our new recruit, he couldn't close down on Alex by the chequered flag despite closing in lap by lap.

The final lap was tight as Magnussen tried to break the 10-second gap on Alex to finish P9, but car #23 kept close enough to record our third point-scoring finish of 2024.

Franco also benefitted from a penalty, finishing behind Ricciardo on the road, and being promoted to a fantastic P12 in the classification.

Speaking after taking another top-10 finish, Alex said: "It was a good race and I’m happy.

"I felt like we did a decent job, whilst also struggling quite a lot with the tyres.

"The front left was always a problem throughout so I had to manage this, and I couldn’t really stop the graining, which was always a problem for us.

"In the end, we did a good job of surviving while relying on Kevin’s penalty to get P9.

"Haas had us beat this weekend on race pace, so we still have some work to do, but with another upgrade to come, hopefully, we can get back into this point-scoring rhythm for the remaining races of the season.

"Also, well done to Franco on a great race, he did an impressive job on his first weekend in F1.

Our debutant driver Franco shared his thoughts on his maiden Grand Prix: "I’m really happy to have completed my first Formula 1 race, it’s a moment I will never forget.

"The race was physically tough as I’m a bit tired and sore now but there are plenty of positives to take.

"Before today I had never driven more than eight laps in a row in the FW46 and today there were 53 to do with very high track temps.

"I think I did a good job of managing the tyres to make the one-stop work and the race pace was strong.

"I’m very happy for the team. It was great to give them a positive result from my first race after all the hard work they’ve put in to get me up to speed this weekend.

"Of course, there are still things to work on but I’m very excited to jump back in the car in two weeks to go racing again."

Sven Smeets, the Williams Racing Sporting Director admitted that, "It was a nerve-racking afternoon but with a great finish!

"After our disappointing weekend last week, the team has bounced back with a solid performance.

"Alex was outstanding today, making the one-stop strategy work, holding off Alonso, who was on a two-stop, and sticking close to Magnussen in front of us, who had a 10-second penalty.

"His P9 is well-deserved, and he will be very happy to be back in the points.

"Franco had a great first race, starting from P18 and making his way past a few cars at the beginning.

"He also made the one-stop strategy work with a well-managed long stint on the Hard tyres.

"He can look back on an impressive first weekend and a well-deserved P12 in the race.

"We leave Europe behind us now and will begin the last leg of eight overseas races in two weeks in Baku.

"We’re looking forward to the next races as we bring more performance to the cars, and there is still a lot to play for."