China Sprint Qualifying, Williams out immediately
The China Sprint Qualifying offers a very clear picture of the teams struggling most with the new regulations: in SQ1, Cadillac, Aston Martin, and Williams were indeed eliminated. As of today, they are the bottom three forces on the grid; and while it was predictable for Cadillac, the crisis of the British team represents a huge surprise.
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While Aston Martin clearly knows why they are at the back of the grid – the power unit – Williams has more generalized difficulties. The Grove team started late compared to the competition (they did not show up for the shakedown at Montmeló) and will therefore use the Shanghai circuit as a test.
Sainz’s words
“This weekend would have been difficult for us anyway, as this circuit highlights the weaknesses of our car“, admitted Carlos Sainz, 17th on the grid ahead of his teammate. “Losing half of the FP didn’t help, because I couldn’t prepare properly for the Sprint Qualifying and had to adapt with every lap. As it stands, we need a smooth weekend before aiming for better results. I will use this weekend to test different configurations and try to recover the track time lost so far. The goal is to maximize our performance and continue to gain knowledge to help the team“.
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Albon’s words
“It was a confusing day and clearly this is not the result we wanted to achieve in the Sprint qualifying“, added Alex Albon. “At the moment we have several limitations that we are trying to understand, so we need to go back to the drawing board and get a clearer picture ahead of tomorrow. As always, we will give our best in front of the Chinese fans for the Sprint race and tomorrow’s qualifying sessions“.
