Alex Albon came way from the Imola GP qualifying with a P7 start for the race, Albon was happy with the result after struggling with the FW47 throughout the weekend.
Albon has shown an immediate strength behind the wheel of the FW47 in 2025. Scoring more points in the opening rounds than he achieved in the entirety of the 2024 season. However, coming into Imola he wasn’t as confident as he had been in previous weekends.
The nature of the Imola circuit makes it a detailed orientated track, with ever slight jolt or mistake having dire consequences. With a new tyre compound being introduced for this weekend, an extra element of uncertainty was present in the weekend.
Albon admitted his was feeling uncomfortable in the car and called qualifying a ‘damage limitation’ session. He said, “Struggled a lot today. We’ve made some changes from yesterday. Happy with the car yesterday. But that’s part of the learning curve, I think.
“Understanding these tyres as well, these C6s, are a little bit difficult. It felt a little bit like damage limitation in qualifying. I’m happy to get away with a P7. It didn’t feel that comfortable up there. So, yeah, good position for tomorrow.”
New tyres
Qualifying was unusual, with Aston Martin opting to use mediums instead of soft tyres. This decision was due to the tyre degradation and the fact that this year’s mediums were last year’s soft tyres. It paid off tremendously, out qualifying not only Williams but pushing both Ferrari drivers out of Q3.
Albon noted this difference in tyres and said, “The softer tyres generally are better at the low-speed corners. But even if you take Suzuka this year, the hard tyres are the best in 6-1.”
“So, there is a bit of a trade, and this trade around this track seems like the C6 just tips it over the edge. Too many high-speed corners for it. And it’s just falling over a little bit. And it’s a bit too sensitive with this track temp.”
Albon admitted that his teammate seemed to make the most of the tyres better than he had. Especially in Q2 when Sainz went fastest and Albon was tenth. When asked why there was a gap between them, Albon confessed it was just down to comfort.
“It was tight out there. Yeah, I think, honestly, a little bit is just about the tyres. You can get them in the right window. It was interesting this weekend because normally we’re both quite sensitive to the tyres. And I felt nothing all weekend.”
“I felt like my first lap, my second lap, my third lap, the tyres always felt the same. He was a bit more in tune with it. And I never really found the right feeling for the tyres.”
Race chances
Much like his teammate, Alex Albon acknowledged the qualifying result puts him in a strong position especially round Imola where overtaking is so difficult in the modern Formula 1 cars.
Albon has the added benefit of his teammate alongside him, which enables Williams to use the driver’s strategically.
He said, “I think we can work together. The strategy is going to be interesting tomorrow, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
