Franco Colapinto described his exit from Q1 at the Italian Grand Prix as “frustrating” after running slightly wide on his final timed lap of his debut qualifying session.
Williams replaced Logan Sargeant with rookie Colapinto for the final nine races of the season, with the Argentinian driver taking part in his first grand prix weekend. Steady progress in practice and a competitive car had left Colapinto eyeing a spot in Q2, but he ran wide at the second Lesmo and bounced through the gravel, ending up 18th on the grid.
“It’s frustrating of course,” Colapinto said. “I was expecting more after FP3; we had really good pace. I had a lot to improve after lap one in Q1, so I think I was expecting Q2 was very possible, and of course that little mistake that I did cost me the lap.
“A lot of things to keep learning, a lot to understand with the tires yet. It’s a lot of things going on. I am getting used to it and adapting quite quick, but I still need to understand … Of course tomorrow is going to be a very special day, my first F1 race, and it’s going to be an important moment of my career.
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“I think my longest stint now was like eight laps, so tomorrow will be a long one, 57 or something, so looking forward to tomorrow and to keep understanding the tires. I think it’s the most difficult part — keep learning about the car, and hopefully [it’ll get] much better in these nine races.”
Alex Albon showed the pace of the Williams — reaching Q3 and securing ninth on the grid — and says he’s primed for a fight with Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas for the lower points positions.
“P9 is great, so I’m very happy,” Albon said. “We were the best of the rest so far this weekend and that’s where we hoped to be, but I don’t think we truly believed we’d be here, so it’s good. When the car continues to deliver in the practice sessions, it does add a bit of extra pressure to make sure we deliver in qualifying, but it all paid off.
“It’s a very different track to Zandvoort and as good as the upgrades have been, we know this track does suit our car, but we also know that if we didn’t have the upgrade, we wouldn’t be in Q3, so that’s a nice takeaway. We were fighting the Haas throughout qualifying and they seem to have slightly stronger race pace for tomorrow. Graining will be our biggest concern, but let’s see how we go.”