It wasn't so long ago that if you were looking for Williams in the session timesheets, you'd be best to start reading up from the bottom. Not anymore, after Alex Albon finished Friday practice in Zandvoort in P3.
The London-born Thai driver has already enjoyed a strong start to the season, picking up all 11 of the team's championship points so far and regularly making it through to the second if not final round of qualifying.
He was fifth fastest in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, and showed this was no fluke by improving to third fastest in the late afternoon second session, just a quarter of a second behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
If that came as a shock to everyone in the grandstand, it was a reaction shared by the 27-year-old himself. "It’s a bit surprising," he admitted. "Honestly, I have to say the car felt good from the moment we touched down in FP1."
However he was quick to point out that it was early days and everything could soon change on Saturday given how close everyone was today, with 16 cars within eight tenths of each other.
"We’ve seen it before. We obviously don’t know what everyone else is doing," he warned. "For sure people are most likely running heavier [fuel] but you look at it anyway it’s still a good day, even if we are lighter or whatever we are.
“We are still doing good pace. It’s going to be very tight - it’s always tight around here. I don't mean that I'm pessimistic, I’m actually quite optimistic.
"I’m sure everyone is going to make a bigger step tomorrow. Obviously, we will try and hold on and keep this position, but we’ll see.”
Albon said the big challenge would be in qualifying, with traffic bound to be an issue that could be either a major opportunity to snatch success - or prove to be a major downfall for anyone caught out.
“It’s tough. It is tough. It’s always been a problem,” Albon said when asked about congestion on the Zandvoort circuit.
“These tyres need to rest, and when you rest them there is a lot of traffic," he explained. "It keeps you on your toes, even on your in-laps, on your cool-down laps. They keep you on your toes.”
Albon's rookie team mate Logan Sargeant also had a strong start to the day and was P7 in first practice, although he finished the day outside the top ten.
"It’s my first time driving here in Zandvoort," the American pointed out. "It’s a rollercoaster that’s for sure, and it reminds me of a quicker version of Monaco.
"It’s been a pretty good Friday," he reported. "We’ve had the car in a good window since we put it on the ground this morning, the high fuel runs seem to look pretty good and I feel comfortable.
"We’re in a good place and now it’s about fine tuning," suggesting that the weather could throw a curveball on Saturday. "But all-in-all, it’s been a good start. I’m ready to have a good day tomorrow."
Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson said it was been goot to have a full day of dry practice for once, although some rain and a change of wind speed and direction is mooted for the rest of the weekend.
"We started FP1 in a good place and with the setup well suited to the conditions. We tried a few things in FP2, and we now need to decide what was better and what wasn’t.
"The pace of the car wasn’t too bad today but it’s always difficult to know here as cars don’t always get clear laps and the tyres can be tricky to manage," he added.
"We have a decent baseline, but we will still need to keep on top of the evolving conditions if we are to get a good result on Sunday."
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