Franco Colapinto says that the Williams Formula 1 factory staff are “the heroes of the week” after they manged to get two FW46s ready for the Las Vegas GP following the team’s disastrous Interlagos weekend.
In Brazil Alex Albon failed to make the start after his crash in qualifying, while Colapinto went off in both qualifying and the race.
The damage sustained, which came right after two incidents for Albon in Mexico, left the team scrambling to get two race cars and spares ready for Vegas.
“It was a tough weekend in Brazil,” said Colapinto. “I think over these past six races, I have had five very good ones. It’s been full of new challenges, like every weekend I’ve had something new.
“Brazil was an exception. It’s just that I didn’t really manage well the race. In the wet it’s sometimes like a switch. The tyres were not fully in. There was a lot of aquaplaning, and the situation was always more tricky.
“Unfortunately for the team we left the race with a lot of damage. But the boys in the workshop have been working so hard to get the cars back here in Vegas in the latest spec. The cars are looking great.
“The guys did a fantastic job in the in the factory. So very proud of them. They are the heroes of the week by far. So, yeah, very grateful.”
Asked by this writer about the tight spares situation is he said: “You can imagine that after a triple header, where we had a lot of, a lot of damage in Mexico – Alex had a lot, in Brazil, we had a lot with both cars – it’s going to be tough. But I think the cars are fully ready for it, and the team is doing a great job to get the spares ready.
“And we are looking strong, we are looking strong as a team. Maybe it looks worse than what it is. I think we are in a good position, and we have to be aggressive.
“We lost eighth place in the championship, so we are going aggressive now, and trying to recover points, race to race, and until Abu Dhabi there is always an opportunity, so we’ll try until then to do our best.”
He added: “It is very important that both cars have a clean last few races. It is important always to close the year in a right way, to close the year with points, hopefully.
“You are only as good as your last race. And our last race was not great. So we have to recover from that. I’m sure we can do. We have a good car for this track as well. So looking forward to it.”
Adam Cooper F1 