Alex Albon nearly clinched a podium as Williams challenged top teams Ferrari and Mercedes in a tense, strategy-driven race at Imola.
Alex Albon finished fifth once again at Imola, marking the third time this season. The Williams F1 driver believes what helped him during the race was maximizing his stint on medium tyres, which allowed him to fight at the end of the race.
“This is what we can take away from my race. It wasn’t about being lucky; it was that we had a very strong first stint which unlocked the race. Only the front-running drivers managed to extend their medium stints, and I was the only one behind them who was able to do so,” said Albon, smiling at the irony of being frustrated with another fifth-place finish.
“In any situation, we should have finished fourth today. I don’t think it was Charles’ fault; we just pushed a bit too hard and I lost a place to Lewis. We ended up fifth, and it’s strange to finish fifth and feel disappointed.”
The Thai driver even considered the podium a possibility during the race: “There were two moments when I thought a podium was possible. The first was when I was running third with Oscar behind me, but he caught up too quickly. The second was when I was trying to pass Charles.”
“Because I knew Oscar was on old tyres, and I felt really good. I regret it a bit now — I could have been more patient with Charles, but since I needed to catch Oscar, I told myself I had to make the move quickly. I should have waited for Charles to drain his battery; I would have passed him more easily.”
Albon admits he enjoys being in the top five: “The top-team drivers battle harder than the midfield drivers, surprisingly. I enjoy that. I’d love to say we’ll be fighting them every weekend — I don’t think that will be the case, but it’s twice in a row now that the facts have proved me wrong.”
“We have the car to beat Mercedes and Ferrari”
Sainz Frustrated Despite Strong Pace
Carlos Sainz finished eighth in a race marked by strategy and lamented a result that wasn’t optimal: “I’m a bit unhappy, another weekend where we had good pace, enough for a top five. We were quicker than Mercedes, quicker than Ferrari, I felt good all weekend.”
“But for some reason, we just can’t catch a break on Sundays in terms of race execution. We pitted early, and I felt it was too early — and it was. We need to keep learning and improving because it’s costing us points on Sundays. But I know it can only get better, and I’m staying positive; we’re pushing to improve.”
The Spaniard acknowledges that Williams’ progress is encouraging, but he now wants to make the most of their results: “It’s strange, because if you had told me a few races ago, or even last year, that we’d be fighting Mercedes and Ferrari on pure pace and that eighth place was possible, I would have been surprised.”
“But the reality is that over the last two weekends, we had a car capable of beating them — and we didn’t. And I’m not happy, because I know we have the potential and the speed to beat them. But we’re not executing well on Sundays, so we need to improve and work better with the team to avoid making things too complicated on race day.”
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