'We should have scored points' – Albon and Sainz reflect on difficult Sao Paulo GP for Williams

Alex Albon believes Williams "should have scored points" in last weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix as he and team mate Carlos Sainz suffered setbacks.

Both drivers failed to reach Q3 in Qualifying at Interlagos, with neither driver having taken any points from Saturday's earlier Sprint.

The Williams duo generally lacked pace compared with many midfield teams due to the circuit's characteristics.

In the 71-lap race, both drivers hovered on the edge of the top 10, with Albon finishing P11 but less than two seconds behind Liam Lawson, who led a train of cars to the chequered flag.

“I think we should have scored points today," said Albon.

"I need to review the strategy, but we put ourselves in a good position, then stayed out too long on the first stint and it compromised the rest of our race. So, we missed a good chance for points.”

When asked if it was a circuit which didn't suit the FW47, Albon added: “Maybe, but we need to understand why, because we talk a lot about next year, but we need to also understand why at weekends like this, we are so slow.

"I think we were the slowest car this weekend on paper, and we’ve just been struggling.”

Sainz could only claim P13, just one-second behind Albon, but was nursing damage after opening corner contact with Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.

Williams still remain P5 in the Teams' Championship despite non-scoring, but sit just 29 points clear of Racing Bulls with three Grands Prix and a Sprint remaining, as both Lawson and Isack Hadjar finished inside the top 10 in Brazil.

"I think I just got squeezed by Lewis on the outside," said Sainz.

"There were some cars on the inside, I had nowhere to go, and that compromised my race because I lost the front wing there – a big part of the front wing – and from there, I was struggling with a lot of understeer in the car and a lot of front deg [degradation], which made me slower than what we could have been.

“A bit of a slow pit stop at the beginning, and when you start adding things up, we are a couple of seconds away from the points – you always wonder what could have been.”