Williams: Russell qualifying performance is team's 'vindication'

Claire Williams singled out George Russell's Styrian GP qualifying performance, insisting the feat achieved by the Briton was a timely "vindication" for Williams.

For the first time since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, a Williams driver made the Q2 cut on Saturday when Russell qualified an impressive P12 in the rain disrupted session.

The performance was noteworthy even if it wasn't followed by points the following day as an early mistake undermined Russell's afternoon.

• Russell and Latifi surprised by Williams race pace deficit

"We had a great time overall in Austria and I think the team should be very proud of what we achieved," Williams said.

"George’s qualifying was a real shot in the arm for everybody at Williams. The operations trackside have done pretty well, very few mistakes have been made, and that’s an impressive achievement considering that nobody’s been trackside for many months.

"Obviously we leave without the result that we all would have liked. Unfortunately, the race pace of the Haas and the Alfa was a lot quicker than we modeled on Friday during the long runs, so that was disappointing for us."

One swallow does not a summer make but Williams' performance in Austria undoubtedly hints at progress at the Grove-based outfit after two seasons spent in purgatory.

"Two years, I suppose in real terms, isn't a whole lot of time," added Williams. "But in F1, it's a hugely long time.

"And when we've got 22 races that we're going to and you end up dropping out of Q1 and never scoring points, it's been a really painful two years.

"So [qualifying] feels like vindication for us. We told everybody, we promised that we were working in the background doing everything we needed to to turn this team around.

"We've also had some doubters, and I hope that what we've done is demonstrate that we deliver on our promises.

"We know we still have a lot of work to do, but it does feel good that we are putting in the performance, to show that we're moving our car and our team back up to where we want to see it."

On the back of her team's improvement, Williams is convinced that points are on the horizon.

"I think let's just take each race as it comes, and I know they're coming," she said. "I know those points are on their way to us, and it will be an incredibly happy day when they arrive."

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