Albon beats the two Ferraris, but rues his Q3 performance

F1 Grand Prix, GP Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Williams driver Alexander Albon was delighted with the setup changes that his team carried out ahead of qualifying, but he rued his final qualifying lap that was only good enough for tenth on the grid.

It looked extremely close between Alexander Albon and his team-mate Logan Sargeant, but a late push lap at the end of Q2 saw the Thai driver make the cut into the final qualifying segment.

It was Albon's second Q3 appearance in a row after displaying a brilliant performance in the qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago. The Thai driver was delighted with the speed of his car, but he indicated that there was more to achieve in Q3.

"A frustrating Saturday. We did a small set-up change before Qualifying and the car felt good from the get-go. We had strong pace in Q1 and Q2, but we tried a different run-plan in Q3 which didn't work out for us. The shower of rain between sessions dropped the track temperature and we struggled to warm up the tyres, compromising our final Q3 attempt.

"Tomorrow will be challenging with two Ferraris behind, but equally I think we have a race in front of us with the Aston Martins and RBs. Overall, it's positive to have two Q3 appearances in a row and I think rain tomorrow will create some good opportunities for us," said Albon.

Logan Sargeant put in a very strong showing in qualifying, displaying eye-catching speed in the middle part of the session. In the end, the American grabbed a very encouraging P13 for today's Montreal round.

"It’s little bit frustrating as I got held up on my best lap. I actually gained a tenth and a half on myself. If I had that time, I would’ve been straight through to Q3 which is disappointing as you know it’s been left on the table.

"Nonetheless it’s been another solid weekend considering the conditions and how we’ve adapted. Our car pace is a little bit better here which elevates us as a team. I feel like I’ve been driving well with the package I have at the moment.

"We’re in a position that we can definitely fight from tomorrow. I’m sure it’s going to be a tricky day with most likely changing conditions through the race. We’ve managed it well so far and we’ll try to keep doing the same," concluded Sargeant.

Speaking of Williams qualifying session, Sporting Director Sven Smeets said: "Today was going to be a challenge due to the predicted variable weather but in the end the rain missed P3 and Qualifying. The car performed well in these colder track conditions and tyre preparation was key for progressing to the next Qualifying session.

Logan performed well and progressed into Q2 with some very strong laps. Unfortunately, he missed Q3 by a tenth, but he can look back on a good Qualifying session. Although we had to go through some tricky moments in Q2, Alex made it into Q3 with a very strong last push lap.

Starting from P10 and P13 puts us in a good position to fight for points tomorrow but the weather forecast predicts showers in the afternoon so it will be all to play for."