Alexander Albon expressed frustration after believing Williams had top 10 potential at Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Albon was ninth-fastest in Q1, displaying encouraging performance from the FW45, but did not set a time in Q2 and dropped out in 15th spot.
“We had some front wing damage in qualifying, and we lost one of the flaps, so we didn’t complete a lap in Q2,” said Albon.
“It’s disappointing as, looking at the times in Q2, I really believe we could have made it to Q3. I’m a bit disappointed after being P9 in Q1 and I feel like we deserved more than where we qualified.”
Albon was nonetheless buoyed by the pace shown by Williams during qualifying.
“I think if you look at where we were this time last year and where we are at this year, apart from Aston Martin, we’re the team that has made the biggest step forward,” he said.
“I’m really proud of everyone at the team and at the factory and things are going in the right direction.
“We really do come alive when the track becomes cold and I would say our race pace is stronger than our qualifying pace, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Team-mate Logan Sargeant will make his Formula 1 debut from 16th place on the grid.
Sargeant set a lap time identical to McLaren’s Lando Norris but fell the wrong side of the Q1/Q2 cut-off on account of the Briton posting the time first.
“We had good pace today and the team deserved to have both cars in Q2,” he said.
“A slight mistake in Sector 1 cost me as I struggled to find my brake point with the change of wind at Turn 1. However, we’ve laid a good foundation for ourselves to build off going forward.”
