"Since the very beginning of Pirelli tires, it's a dark art": Alex Albon after a splendid qualifying session in his Williams

Alex Albon had a brilliant qualifying session at the 2023 F1 Australian GP. The Thai driver was able to become the second and third fastest driver on the grid on several occasions during all three qualifying sessions. When considering how slow the Williams car is compared to the top of the pack, he did a brilliant job by finishing eighth in the end.

While speaking to the media, Alex Albon explained how great he felt when he started his qualifying session. He was confident and was able to find the grip, allowing him to push the limits. He stated:

"When I came into qualifying, it felt great. And then, once you get that confidence, and once you get that feeling of grip, you can just push the limits. Then it was a very smooth qualifying session. If you actually look at every lap, we just go a little bit faster, a little bit faster, chip away with it, and that was the result."

Later on, he explained how strangely Pirelli tires worked for him during the qualifying session. Albon explained how he had to drive slower in order to clock in faster lap times. he said:

"It's such a strange thing. Since the very beginning of Pirelli tyres, it's a dark art. Sometimes to drive quicker, you have to drive slower. And, if you push the limits too early in the lap, you pay for it at the end, so it's not always that obvious."

Albon further clarified that if a driver pushes too hard early in the lap, they will lose time during the last sector, saying:

"The lap I did in Q3 was one of them, where it felt like I was on the limit, but never went over it. It had good grip for sector three as well. And it just clicks. A lot of the time when you are hot in your first few sectors, you lose it because you push too hard. Today wasn't one of those days."

Alex Albon will start the Australian GP from P8 right behind Charles Leclerc, and in front of Pierre Gasly.

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Alex Albon recalls good memories from Albert Park and why he likes the circuit

Speaking at the Williams pop-up event, Alex Albon explained his affinity for the Australian GP at Albert Park Circuit. He also mentioned how other drivers also like the race since it is on a high-speed track that is quite unforgiving. Albon said:

"We have good memories of this track (Albert Park). It seems to suit us, more than other circuits. And, as a driver it feels great - it's really high speed, it's a street circuit. So, for us, we enjoy that and we feel like we have to be slightly out of our comfort zone to be on the limit."