Williams shines at Monza as Sainz and Albon talk up Friday pace

Williams delivered one of the standout performances of Friday practice at the Italian Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both leaving Monza’s opening day encouraged by the speed of their FW47.

Sainz was a consistent threat at the sharp end, finishing third fastest in both FP1 and FP2, while Albon backed him up in seventh on both occasions — best of the rest behind McLaren, Ferrari, and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

For a team that has often had to fight tooth and nail in the midfield this season, the performance marked a significant statement.

Sainz: “The pace is there”

For Sainz, who has endured a rough spell with five consecutive point-less finishes, the pace on Friday was a timely boost – and came despite some lingering discomfort on Pirelli’s soft compound tyres.

“The pace is there, we were quick,” Sainz said. “On long runs, short runs, the balance felt in a decent window but there's a couple of corners and the soft tyre that we need to sort out.

“We manage to sort this out and I can get myself a bit more comfortable in the car then hopefully there's even more to come.

“Promising pace as I said, now I just need to make sure I feel more comfortable on the first lap on softs when you put the first lap on the tyre and also a bit in a couple of corners where I'm still lacking a bit. But all in all, with all those things, good pace.”

The Spaniard finished just 0.096s behind Lando Norris in FP2, underlining just how competitive Williams looked in Monza’s low-drag configuration.

Albon: “Can we make it repetitive?”

Albon, too, was pleased with the pace of the FW47, but warned that execution across the weekend will be critical if the team is to turn raw speed into a healthy points haul.

“It's more just can we make it repetitive and can we get the same car that we got today for tomorrow,” he explained.

“There's a lot of work to be done and I think we have sweet spots and we've seen it time and time again this year, our out-laps and getting the tyres in the right window is going to be tricky so we just need to make sure we can actually execute what we want to do.

“Good points for sure [is the goal]. I think we've always come here, we've always focused on the top of the midfield and I think we can, we've got reasonable car pace today so let's see if it carries on.”

With McLaren showing relentless pace, Ferrari looking threatening in front of their home fans, and Verstappen lurking within range, Williams may not be in the fight for pole.

But if Friday is any indicator, both Sainz and Albon could be in the thick of the points battle come Sunday – a welcome boost for the Grove outfit at one of F1’s most iconic venues.

Read also: Lawson blasts Sainz for ‘mouthing off’ as Dutch GP feud escalates

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