Alfa Romeo made up six points on Williams in Qatar on Sunday: James Vowles is warned, but still believes his team can take seventh place
Does Williams have to tremble once again for its seventh place in the constructors’ championship? After the summer break, the team had managed to pull away from its rivals in the rear with eighth place at Zandvoort and seventh at Monza – also because Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri struggled to score any points.
However, since the race in Qatar, Williams have been in some danger again. Eighth and ninth places for Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou in Doha gave Alfa Romeo six points on Sunday and brought the team within seven points of Williams.
Alexander Albon’s seventh place in Saturday’s sprint was all the more important as it gave Williams an extra two points. “The two points we scored on Saturday are valuable,” team boss James Vowles knows. “Because we still have some rivals in the fight for places seven to ten in the championship.”
“We have some very, very strong teams that are behind us at the moment but have a strong package and a strong car,” he points out in a video on Williams’ website.
With five races to go, Williams leads the pack by 23 points. AlphaTauri, with just five points, would need an extraordinary result to overtake the Grove team, and Haas, with twelve points, seems to be lagging behind – especially as they have only scored one point in nine races since the sprint in Austria.
Meanwhile, the biggest threat comes from Alfa Romeo, who overtook Haas in the championship in Qatar and have 16 points to their name. “Alfa Romeo put in a strong performance on Sunday, being fast and scoring valuable points that have brought them closer to us than ever before,” warns Vowles.
In addition, the Swiss racing team had recently brought an extensive upgrade to their car, which showed its effect in Qatar. “We know Alfa Romeo brought new parts and we know the car is making progress,” says Vowles. Haas then plans to follow suit with an update at the next race in Austin.
On the other hand, nothing more will come from Williams this season: “We made a conscious but good decision to move everything to 2024 early on,” explains Vowles. “I want us to move up the grid. And you can’t do that by just putting the focus on one year.” However, he also knows, “But that makes for a weakness.”
Despite this, Vowles firmly believes that Williams will eventually finish seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. “But we have to make sure in every single race that we have brought out everything the car is capable of,” he says.
“There will be tracks coming up that suit us. Las Vegas will be a very strong event for the team, but we just have to get every point possible between now and then,” said Vowles, who doesn’t expect a decision until the finish in Abu Dhabi.
