Alex Albon had a stellar weekend in at the F1 Imola GP, finishing fifth, between two Ferraris. However, Albon couldn’t help but want more, with a podium just out of reach.
The Williams driver was the slower of the duo all weekend, with Carlos Sainz going faster in both practice and in qualifying. After qualifying, Alex Albon admitted that he wasn’t comfortable in the FW47.
But that clearly changed overnight as he fought at the front for the entirety of the F1 Imola GP. He was even within reach of a podium in the final stages before a close call with Charles Leclerc saw him end up in the gravel, losing out to Lewis Hamilton.
After the race, Alex Albon admitted it was ‘weird’ to be disappointed by the P5 finish as he ran P3 on merit at one point thanks to Oscar Piastri going for a two-stop.
He said, “Weird isn’t it. On pure pace we were fighting for P3, P4. That’s no safety car, just pure situation. Obviously, maybe a bit lucky with the VSC admittedly, but at the same time got unlucky again on the last safety car.
“Yeah P5 and coming away today a bit disappointed, which is a bit strange to say.”
Fighting with Leclerc
Undoubtably, the reason Albon missed out on P4 was his fight with Charles Leclerc. A gutsy move left him running in the gravel and, despite having equal tyres with Hamilton, he was passed by the Ferrari.
Reflecting on the move, Albon said: “Maybe could’ve raced Charles a bit differently. Could’ve done a bit better there, obviously lost out to Lewis. Maybe could have been a bit more patient with my overtake.”
The Williams’s driver admitted he thought even Piastri was within reach, which pushed him to make the daring move on the Ferrari.
“I was kind of, honestly, licking my lips. I thought I could even get Oscar up in front as well. Such was the pace and the new tyres we had on the car. So yeah, very happy.”
Piastri wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Much like Leclerc, the Australian hadn’t opted to stay out in the safety car, leaving him at a massive tyre deficit to those around him. With how fast Albon’s pace was on the fresher rubber, the podium was without a doubt in reach.
One-off or new normal?
The real question for Alex Albon was if the pace shown by Williams in Miami and again in Imola is the new normal. He tried to downplay his expectations but couldn’t deny he was getting more hopeful with each round that passes.
“It’s a weird one, honestly. I keep telling myself it won’t happen again. It’s this race, and then we go to the next race, and we’re still real quick again, and it’s a bit like, is it circumstantial, is it not?
“I would honestly say Miami and here, we’ve been quick, in my opinion, almost unexpectedly quick this weekend. I expected Miami to be good, but not here, and it kind of opens the window for what else, maybe next week we’re going to be good.“
Looking ahead to the next two stops as part of the double-header, Albon seemed positive for Monaco but more apprehensive for Barcelona. The winding streets of Monaco far more closely match the conditions in Imola than Barcelona.
“I actually think Monaco won’t be too bad, I think Barcelona we’re going to struggle, but let’s keep going, enjoying this while it lasts.”
