Albon deems Aston Martin "exceptionally quick"

Written by Charlotte Mui

Credit: Williams Racing

Coming back from the summer break, Williams sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, topping the mid-field battle. Not far behind however, is Aston Martin, looking to reclaim their “best of the rest” finish from last year. 

18 points separate them coming into the Dutch Grand Prix, with both experiencing mixed results in Friday’s practice sessions. 

Alex Albon suffered a big crash in free practice 2, locking up and going off into the gravel at Turn 1. 

Despite his mistake, Albon was quick to clarify: “It’s not the end of the world, just got to play around with the car a bit.”

Looking ahead to qualifying, with rain potentially on the horizon, Albon sounded optimistic: “Yeah, I wouldn't mind rain, but I think we don’t have a bad car in the dry.

“We’ve got a decent car, we hit the ground running in FP1.”

The Williams driver remains positive about his pace going into the competitive sessions despite his mishap.

Credit: Aston Martin via Instagram

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, looked extremely comfortable on a day where many drivers were struggling.

The Spaniard is on track to continue Aston Martin’s good run of form, carrying in the momentum from Hungary. He finished the session second only to Lando Norris, who also topped free practice 1.

When asked about his closest competitors, Albon said: “In these tight difficult tracks, Hungary, here, they seem to be exceptionally quick. Let’s see how they do next week in Monza.”

Williams may have held a comfortable fifth for much of the season, but the gap to Aston Martin has been narrowing, setting up a tense battle as the final 10 races unfold.