Williams F1 confirm 11-year wait is over after what Alex Albon did at Brazilian GP | F1 | Sport

Williams have confirmed that Alex Albon’s fastest lap award at the Brazilian Grand Prix was the team’s first in 11 years, with their most recent success on that front coming with Valtteri Bottas’ effort in Sochi in 2014. Albon turned in his best effort on lap 59, punching in a 1:12.400 on medium compound tyres, overtaking Alpine’s Franco Colapinto over the course of the tour of the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

The race-long record stood for the following 12 laps before Lando Norris crossed the finish line to end the Grand Prix. The Thai-British racer is now among an elite group of 20 Williams drivers to have obtained a fastest lap in F1. That list is topped by Nigel Mansell, who bagged 23 during his iconic career with the Grove-based squad.

Unfortunately for Albon, his impressive late-race pace did not translate into points for Williams in Interlagos. The 29-year-old found himself wrapped up in a DRS train during the closing laps and opted against a late lunge on Pierre Gasly at Juncao, crossing the line just under three-tenths of a second behind the Alpine racer.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, finished 13th, two spots behind in the midfield chaos. With Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar both finishing in the points on Sunday, the gap between the two teams in the Constructors’ Championship has closed to 29 points.

“It was a good race for the fans today, but unfortunately for us, it was a bit of a race to forget,” Albon said, looking back at his Brazilian GP. “We had good pace when we could show it.

“We’ve struggled with pace all weekend, but seem to have recovered a little bit today. In the end, what took us out of contention for points was that I think we stayed out too long on the first stint, and we never really recovered from there.

“In the last stint, we were quick and were fighting our way back up the grid and just missed out on a point at the end. It’s frustrating that our rivals scored points today, but we will regroup and look forward to a better weekend in Las Vegas.”

Offering his verdict, Sainz added: “Not the day I was hoping for. Once I got squeezed on Turn One, I had considerable damage to the car, and my race was compromised from there. We managed to stay in the hunt for points most of the race, but after a slow first stop and compiled with the damage, that was it unfortunately.

“Time to go back home and see what we can do in these types of circuits, as Qatar will also be a challenge. A few races to go, so we cannot relax. Let’s keep going.”