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Albon lauds ‘strongest weekend so far’ as more points see Williams leapfrog Alfa Romeo and Haas in standings

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NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 09: Alexander Albon of Thailand and Williams waves to the crowd from

Alex Albon described the British Grand Prix weekend as “huge” for Williams after another solid points finish helped the team rise from ninth to seventh in the constructors’ standings.

A couple of races on from catching the eye in Canada, where he made to most of major updates to come home seventh, Albon featured towards the top of the timesheets throughout a weekend of mixed weather conditions at Silverstone.

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Having been inside the top three in all practice sessions, Albon made it through to Q3 and started eighth, a position he converted on race day via some late scrapping with Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – beating both of them to the line.

The haul of four points sees Williams move further clear of AlphaTauri and ahead of Alfa Romeo and Haas in the standings, leaving Albon to reflect on another encouraging event.

Race Highlights: 2023 British Grand Prix

“It’s been a great weekend,” said Albon. “P8… It’s funny that it’s actually our worst position of the weekend, which is crazy to say. It just shows you that points were on the cards.

“In some ways, when you know the car’s possible for points, it puts a little bit more emphasis on… I don’t want to say pressure, but expectation to score points. To be able to get P8 for the team, now we’re joint seventh in the constructors’, it’s huge for us.

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“That Safety Car put it all in the mix. Of course we got a bit fortunate with it, but sometimes we ride the luck. I think last weekend [in Austria] we weren’t so lucky and this weekend we were.

“I’m super-happy, I feel like that’s three weekends on the bounce now where we’ve had solid pace – [so let’s] keep it going.”

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Albon added that, despite finishing one position lower, he rated the British Grand Prix weekend above Canada – while offering his thoughts on what Williams can do going forward.

“I think as a team this has been our strongest weekend so far, on pure pace… Better than Canada,” he commented. “It’s been a very good weekend, so I have to say we are… There was no defending this weekend, you have to have pace here to get points and we did, so I’m very happy.

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“We shouldn’t expect this [at every race going forward], but we will definitely have these circuits where we will shine. I feel like in these moments we’ve got to score points and so far we have. In every racetrack where it’s been physically possible, I feel like we’ve done the job.

“We’re going to have a few more opportunities this year, and we’re going to have to use them to get in front of the Haas and the Alfa in the constructors’. On the other ones, pray for some rain or whatever!”

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