Williams in the News: From Brazil to Barber and back at Grove

Whilst there isn’t any racing action to talk about currently, there has been lots going on in the background for the Williams Racing team.

Alex Albon was back in his Bolder than Bold FW45 last weekend, taking part in a show run at the Gulf Speed Festival in São Paulo.

Formula1.com covered the Thai racer's trip to Brazil, where he shared his enjoyment of driving outside the Grand Prix environment.

“It is different for sure,” our No.23 driver shared. “It’s nice to be able to do stuff outside of being on a race track and more focused on engaging with the fans.

“At the same time, in terms of doing donuts and burnouts and all this kind of stuff, weirdly or not, we don't actually practice it that much! So it takes a little bit of learning to get used to it.”

Another Williams Racing driver who got behind the wheel this past week was Jamie Chadwick.

Our F1 Academy Adviser took part in her maiden IndyCar test at Barber Motorsports Park on Monday.

The three-time W Series champion explained to Mirror Sport her reasons for choosing the challenging Alabama venue for the test, saying: "I really wanted to get the sort of worst-case scenario, particularly from a physical standpoint.

"I think it gave me a very clear picture on how tough IndyCar is from a physical standpoint.

“That's exactly what we wanted to achieve and, from my point of view, I know what level I need to get to if I want to race very successfully in IndyCar."

Back at our Grove HQ, James Vowles sat down with Tom Clarkson for an episode of the Beyond The Grid Podcast.

Various topics were discussed, including what Carlos Sainz will bring to Williams, Alex Albon’s growth and Franco Colapinto’s impressive start to his F1 career.

On the latter point, our Team Principal offered an insight into what lies ahead for our Argentine racer.

“First and foremost, he’s worthy of being a Formula 1 driver so we will do what we have to, to a certain extent, make it work in that regard,” James explained.

“I’m not sure where Sauber are in their decision making, and I’m not sure where VCARB are in their decision making, but what I do know is this, take the last 12 months and tell me that you managed to predict anything of what was going to happen because I didn’t.

“Our responsibility towards him is to make sure we’re doing testing in a historic car, make sure that he’s here working with us so that we keep him at the best pace we possibly can, such that if the opportunity arises, he can take it.”

Finally, have you heard about the Formula 1 team that took both titles in NASCAR this week?

That’s right, Williams Esports became the first British team to secure both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships in eNASCAR.

Parker White clinched both after a dramatic final lap that saw three title contenders go side-by-side, with the moment covered by both Frontstretch.com and Deadspin.