‘We can’t fix core problems' – Albon delivers honest verdict after challenging Qualifying for Williams in Austin

Alex Albon conceded Williams were struggling to "fix core problems" as the team's struggles at the United States Grand Prix weekend continued with another disappointing day.

After finishing bottom of the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2, the Thai driver made some improvement in FP3 by finishing ahead of team mate Carlos Sainz and the Cadillac pairing of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, but remained almost 2.8 seconds off the pace of Lewis Hamilton at the front.

Things did not get any better for Williams though in Saturday's Qualifying session, with both drivers eliminated in Q1 after struggling to keep the car on track at the Circuit of The Americas.

Sainz, who admitted on Friday that he “wasn’t expecting any miracles” across this United States Grand Prix weekend, will start in P17 on Sunday, while Albon will line-up one place behind him in P18 as the pair were elevated two spots thanks to the grid penalties for Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto.

When asked for his instant reaction to Saturday’s Qualifying runs, a confused Albon admitted: “Maybe we need to review our run plan a bit. I felt like we went out really early on the last run.

“We’ve been fighting a lot with the car, with the tyres. Honestly, I finished Qualifying just as confused as I was in FP1. We were trying everything. We’re doing different set-ups every session and yet we can’t fix core problems in the car.

“We throw stuff at the wall – spaghetti at the wall, I guess – and hope that it sticks, but nothing sticks. Let’s see tomorrow.”

The frustration is clear inside the Williams garage, although the disappointing results in Austin have been partly blamed on the ongoing tests taking place as they look further ahead towards the 2027 season.

Speaking after Qualifying, Sainz explained: “It’s been a general weekend where we’ve invested a lot into next year and probably didn’t maximise the car until the last laps of Qualifying. I did some really good laps and we changed a few things on the set-up that helped me be a bit more comfortable today, especially in that Qualifying session.

“On that last lap I was probably just pushing too hard. I did a mega Sector 1, mega Sector 2 and unfortunately I couldn’t close the lap. Maybe with a perfect Sector 3 we could’ve put it in towards the top end of Q1 or even Q2, but I’ll take it.

“I think we’ve been brave with the set-up and testing a few things. I was quite brave on that lap, but unfortunately I did a mistake towards the end and I couldn’t close it.

"We’re definitely learning a few things about next year. We are investing a lot in it, but it’s also true that we cannot hide the fact that we have a very poor car at a track like Austin.

“Not even with investing all that time developing all those things for next year, we would be any better today. We are slow – it’s what it is. We’re trying our best, but until the end of the year I don’t expect any miracles.”