The F1 Canadian GP weekend is one to forget for Williams driver Alex Albon, as his race on Sunday ended quickly due to car failure after some interesting battles with Colapinto, and in the previous round with Liam Lawson. This race brought the Thai a lot of disappointment and frustrations. Nonetheless, Albon’s 2025 season has been great compared to the years before, with him holding a spot in the top 10.
The Drivers’ Championship this year has multiple first-time appearances, both from rookies and older drivers. Yet, Williams Racing has made crucial improvements for the 2025 F1 season, which currently has them in P5 in the Constructors Championship.
Struggles on the radio in Montreal
Alex Albon had quite a few moments when it seemed like he and his team could not come to a consensus. Starting on used medium tyres, the Thai driver carried out the longest stint with mediums of the race. Yet, a couple of other drivers and teams complained about the medium tyre strategy. This came as a result of the tyre showing signs of degradation way quicker than expected.
Therefore, the radio messages between Albon and his race engineer did not come as a total surprise. The Williams driver explained the stress he was under, which in return prompted the frustrations on the radio:
“And that was the rest. So, not all on the team. Not at all.
“I think it most probably sounds like from every other broadcaster you’ve caught the end of everything, but there was a lot of chat before, and we were discussing. I knew I couldn’t really hold on to the tyre as long as they wanted me to, and I knew the guys in the hards were going to overtake me, and we were going to lose a lot of track position.
“So I was quite forceful in trying to make sure that we got into the pits before. Because obviously you’re losing positions. You’re losing three or four seconds a lap, and I was losing three or four seconds a lap and getting swamped by the hard cars.”
Moreover, he shared some of his thoughts on the predicament he found himself in. Albon’s reflections also turned to his first lap incident of the F1 Canadian GP, when he battled with Franco Colapinto:
“We were kind of, at that point, in the middle spot where we’ve gone too long, but then at the same time, we need to go even longer to make one-stop work. That being said, my lap one wasn’t good. I need to do a better job.”
Accusations of overaggressive driving
During his chat in the print media pen, Alex Albon gave his input on the way some of the other drivers around the paddock have been racing. He had an altercation with the Alpine car of Franco Colapinto into Turn 8, which forced Albon off the track.
Although he took responsibility for going into the grass during the F1 Canadian GP, Alex Albon highlighted how not only Colapinto but also Liam Lawson are taking part in a “trend”. This “trend” refers to a driver releasing the brake into turns in order to force another car off the track and either gain or keep a place. The Williams driver also complained about the rulebook and the way it gives these drivers a loophole into avoiding penalties:
“Personally, I feel like there’s a trend recently. Not putting anyone under the bus, but Liam [Lawson] started to do this thing where he just releases the brake into Turn 1 and then kind of shoves the other car off the track. There’s a lot of cars where they’re behind.
“I’ve had it with Franco [Colapinto]. He kind of releases the brake. I could turn in, and he gets the penalty for not keeping control and not giving me the space, but the way this rulebook is, if you don’t make the contact, nothing really happens. I wanted to protect the car. Obviously, I knew I could make the corner and turn in, but he was never going to stop, so I had to cut the chicane, and I lost two or three positions. That was my start gone. Unfortunately, that’s how it was.”
Reflections over unfortunate DNF
Despite all the hard fighting he did during the F1 Canadian GP, Alex Albon’s race came to an end on lap 46. When discussing his DNF, the Williams driver made sure to shed some light on the exact reason. However, he took into consideration the grass incident from the beginning. The team believes it had more to do with the DRS train that formed behind Lawson. The line of cars caused them to drive under dirty air conditions:
“It was a PU thing.
“No, we don’t think so [in regards to the lap 1 incident], but we do think… There was a 6-7 car train, and there’s not much fresh air getting into the car, so that’s like six hot engine wind coming in.”
Nevertheless, both Albon and his team will look into this problem related to the power unit and the overall performance of the car in critical moments.
“I think, at that point… Yeah, we need to look at it because, obviously, it’s not going to be just this race that happens. I think we’ve had a couple of races where we’ve got a little bit close, but this weekend it hit us.”
