It was a rocky start for Franco Colapinto, his first foray into the Baku City Circuit as a Formula 1 driver, or even as a driver at any level.
It remains to be seen how the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will end, but Saturday's qualifying at Baku City Circuit was something special.
The Williams rookie driver made it into Q3 and early on in the session he was among the fastest drivers, alongside Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and other more experienced drivers, before ultimately qualifying in ninth place and describing the achievement as a “great feeling” in his post-session comments.
“Making it into Q3 in my second qualifying in F1 is a great feeling for me and the team,” Colapinto said in the team's post-qualifying report. “I wasn't expecting to make it into Q3 as we were gradually preparing each session. The car has been running well so far this weekend, we are getting used to the car and learning the new track.”
“I think I was able to get the most out of almost every run today. I had a difficult start yesterday but I did a great job turning it around. It was important to gain confidence after my crash in FP1, especially on a street track,” the young driver added. “My mistake in FP1 meant I didn't get a long run which might put me at a disadvantage tomorrow, but I think tonight will help me prepare better and figure out what I can improve on. I'm proud of what we've already achieved together with still a lot of racing left, so let's see what we can do tomorrow.”
The celebrations spread to the other side of the Williams garage, where for the first time this season the team saw veteran Alexander Albon advance to Q3 alongside Colapinto, with both drivers making it into Q3. But the joy was diluted for Albon, who, in an attempt to get him onto the track quickly for his final push lap, left the team's stall with the airbox still fitted, forcing him to step aside and remove a device from his FW46.
The delay meant Albon missed out on a final lap chance and will start from 10th place.
“We've made it three times in a row, which is good. It's good to have both cars in Q3. The car is performing well, the upgrades are working well. Strangely, I'm not that happy with the car this weekend, but this is a positive sign, it shows that we can still get better and that our race pace is still good,” Albon said. “The problem with the fans in Q3, these things happen. Nobody did it on purpose, the team will look at what happened, but realistically, if everything goes perfectly and we can still fight for the top 10 tomorrow, we'll probably gain one or two positions.”
Despite the mistake, which could see the team fined for an unsafe release, Williams is in a good position to compete for points on Sunday.
“Nevertheless, the team and drivers can look back on a solid qualifying which puts both of them in a good position to fight for points tomorrow,” said sporting director Sven Smeets.
