REPORT: A tough test in Budapest

Williams Racing didn't advance up the order around the Hungaroring by the chequered flag in the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

A stellar start for Alex Albon that had him reach P9 eventually turned into a P14 finish, while Logan crossed the line in P17 after 70 laps.

The two FW46 cars ran different tyre strategies, with Alex beginning on Pirelli's soft compound rubber and Logan using the yellow-walled mediums.

Alex used that extra grip to push hard once the five lights went out to jump up from his P13 starting position and began chasing the two Aston Martins.

There wasn't as strong a launch for Logan, who dropped to P18, but he kept out of trouble and fought back against Sergio Perez.

Early pit stops for our closest rivals saw both cars heading to the pit lane on Lap 7 and Lap 8 to switch to the hard tyres for their second stint.

With multiple strategies at play, Albono and Sarge made early gains with their undercuts, but their older tyres had them at a disadvantage as the laps added up.

A second set of hards for each gave a mid-race boost, but they were not enough to get back to the points.

Logan made a final switch to softs for his final six tours on a day when the high track temperature made tyre management tricky.

Alex detailed how Alonso's race affected his own, saying: "We need to understand what happened today.

"I think we missed it a little with the strategy; if we didn’t come out behind Fernando on the first stop, we would’ve been fine but as he was playing the team game and helping to back us up to help Lance, it impacted our race.

"We were planning the two-stop then changed to three-stop, so I started to push the tyres, however, we reverted to two, so you have to extend your stint and by that point, the tyres are gone.

"We had a great start today and despite being disappointed, we’ve gathered valuable learnings in these hot conditions."

Logan made up positions after falling back but admitted that he rued his first lap: "Today was okay. I was disappointed with my start and, around here, it’s an uphill battle from there.

"From a pace perspective, it was a good day and overall, apart from my start, I’m happy with my weekend.

"The car felt better here than last year, which is a positive, but it was a difficult race.

"I did my best to come back through as best I could and we tried to be aggressive with stops, but it didn’t really work out and we found ourselves in dirty air, increasing degradation.

"We’ll keep going and try harder to pull it together in Spa."

Williams Racing's Sporting Director, Sven Smeets, explained how the race unfolded outside of the cockpit:

"With the cover of clouds disappearing slowly before the race start and the high track temperatures appearing again, we knew it was going to be crucial to find free air and stop at the right moments.

"Alex had a great start and found himself stuck behind the Astons.

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t get past Fernando after the first stop, who was working to help his teammate’s race.

"From then, it became a difficult race for Alex finally finishing in P14.

"Logan had a difficult start and lost positions, finding himself constantly in dirty air after every stop but showed flashes of good pace throughout his stints.

"A disappointing afternoon but we have learned a lot again in these hot conditions, making progress since Barcelona which is promising.

"Now we turn our heads to Belgium which should suit our car much better."