“Pitting early or not at all made little difference” – Williams’ Dave Robson

Williams Racing suffered a challenging Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit, after George Russell finished fifteenth and Nicholas Latifi seventeenth, as the team failed to continue their points scoring run.

Both drivers were caught out in the opening stages of the wet Grand Prix, Russell lost places after avoiding a spinning Fernando Alonso on the opening corner and then later on after battling with Esteban Ocon. Latifi on the other hand wasn’t caught out by someone else’s error, it was in fact his own error which lost him ground. The Canadian span on the opening lap leaving him with too much ground to recover.

Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson highlighted the significance the track’s condition had on the race, with the surface refusing to dry during the Grand Prix.

“Today’s race was dominated by the track condition, which stayed damp for the duration. Like everyone else, we tried to make the intermediate tyre last until the track was ready for slicks, however, once it became apparent that this wasn’t going to happen, we were all faced with the decision of whether or not to fit a new intermediate. As Ocon and Ricciardo demonstrated, pitting early or not at all made little difference to finishing position, with only the fast cars that started out of position really making progress.

“George and Nicholas both lost ground in the opening laps, with George losing positions after fighting with Ocon and having Alonso spin in front of him, and Nicholas himself spinning. Both recovered well and showed reasonable pace at times whilst also managing the tyres. The season continues in two weeks in Austin and we are looking forward to getting back to Texas for the first time since 2019.”