Alex Albon was beaming with joy and pride after Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, highlighting how his top-ten finish was a measure of the remarkable progress achieved by Williams since last year.
Points were a rare occurrence for the Grove-based outfit in 2022, but it only took 14 laps for Albon - who qualified P15 - to enter the top-ten at Sakhir, after which his spirited efforts enabled him to hold the first points-scoring spot all the way to the checkered flag.
And for good measure, his rookie teammate Logan Sargeant enjoyed a strong race debut and run to P12.
"A bit of a shock!" enthused Albon. "We had a very good start, made some positions up, had a very good strategy and were flexible with it.
"If you’d told me we’d finish in the points coming into this weekend I’d have – well I don’t know what I’d have done to you but it was pretty special and honestly not just for me, Logan was pretty quick as well, we were both up there and fighting."
However, it hadn't been an easy Sunday at the races for the Anglo-Thai driver as windy conditions around the track proved a handful at times. But the 26-year-old was "proud" overall of his and the team's performance.
"It was actually a really tough race," he said. "The wind I think made the cars, I think for everyone, much more disconnected than yesterday. And especially when we were running low downforce, it makes it even trickier.
"So, to have the pace we had under the circumstances, I have to say I’m super proud.
"I’ve said it before you know but everyone looks at the Aston Martin, but we’ve made unbelievable progress as well.
"It’s harder to see because we aren’t on the podium, but we’ve made good steps there.
"When you look at us this year compared to last year in this position – 12 months on – I have to say we’ve done an amazing job.
"Of course we’re reliable – that helps – but we got points in the first race."
Asked if Williams can carry its strong opening result forward, Albon said; "I believe so. I wouldn’t have said so coming into this weekend but, after this weekend, who knows anymore?
"We qualified out of position; we should have qualified higher up in my opinion. It would have made our race a lot easier today but that’s progress.
"I’m excited but I don’t want to be overly optimistic. But saying that as well, on the flip side, I know we’ve got some stuff for the next couple of races that can really push us forward, so we’ll see."
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