Albon Warns of ‘Grey Areas’ Despite FIA Action on Verstappen

Alex Albon commends the FIA’s decision but urges further clarity on racing standards amid ongoing “grey areas” in F1 regulations.

Alex Albon is pleased that the FIA penalised Max Verstappen in Mexico following two illegal manoeuvres on Lando Norris. According to the Williams F1 driver, Verstappen had already been fortunate to avoid a penalty in Austin, where he also forced Norris off the track twice.

“I think so, as he got away with it in Austin,” Albon remarked, believing that the triple world champion went far enough for the FIA to feel no hesitation in ruling. “I’m pleased the FIA responded. If Austin was grey, this was more black and white.”

However, the Thai driver is sceptical that the new guidelines the FIA is looking to draft on the matter will be a miraculous solution: “The new guidelines aren’t coming immediately. I think some drivers wanted quicker action on these types of incidents.”

“But this can create loopholes in the driving standards that we can exploit. I think they want to wait until the end of the year to ensure the wording is exact, which is fair. It takes time to make sure everything is perfect.”

“It’s clear, though, that incidents like these are happening, and it’s wise for everyone to discuss it and understand the drivers’ perspective. The FIA is listening to the drivers, to the things we’re exploiting, and so on.”

Alex Albon faced issues at the first corner in the past two races, which he believes may have given a misleading impression of Williams’ performance. However, he remains optimistic going forward and believes the team is beginning to understand the latest upgrades.

“It seemed like a bad weekend in Mexico, but we learned a lot, and I left feeling positive. We made progress in understanding the car. The retirement was unfortunate, and there were points up for grabs, but we can learn from this weekend. And with a Sprint this weekend, there are chances to bounce back.”

“Maybe it’s more James than me. I’m just focusing on my work. If we look at the past few weeks, we would have been right up there with a clean weekend. We just need a tidy weekend. We’re just starting to understand the upgrades well, and now we need to get back into the rhythm… and avoid problems at Turn 1!”