Williams Disappointment With 11th Place Shows Progress Says New Boss

Williams CEO Jost Capito was disappointed when George Russell came tantalisingly close to scoring a point during the Austrian Grand Prix, just missing out to Fernando Alonso, but said it is a sign of just how far the team has come this season.

Russell finished 11th from eighth on the grid in Austria last weekend, and Williams has been on a run of stellar performances in recent weeks, earning a P12 in France as well as a 10th-place qualifying performance in Styria that unfortunately resulted in a DNF.

According to Capito, the fact that “everybody is disappointed” that Williams only scored 11th in Austria was a great sign.

“I’m very disappointed and I’m very happy that everybody is disappointed because four weeks ago everybody would have triumphed for 11th place.

“Twelfth place in France was fantastic and now being disappointed with 11th shows the fire of the team and the enthusiasm the team has now, that they want more; they are not happy with a result that doesn’t deliver points.”

Capito was asked if Russell’s P11 in Austria was better than his P12 in France, and his response was that they were both fine achievements, but more importantly, they served as a testament to the team’s rapid improvement.

“France was a fantastic race for him and this was a fantastic race for him, as was last week [Styria]. I think if we would have, as I said before the triple header, what we would achieve in these three races, everybody would have said you’re completely crazy – never ever.

“Now we are even disappointed with these results and I think this shows the way we are taking with the team.”

Capito expects Russell to achieve another solid result at his home race, the Silverstone Grand Prix, depending on the weather…

“It’s very dependent on the weather conditions. I think everybody knows by now our car is very tricky in windy conditions and Silverstone is known [to be] very windy!” 

“I think if it’s very windy we might struggle; if it’s not that windy then we might have a chance to be somewhere close to where we were here,” concluded Capito.