After Saturday’s qualification, the points seemed distant for the Thai-British pilot. From the last race in Saudi Arabia, for contact with Lance Stroll, he penalized a drop of three positions on the grid. He was subsequently disqualified from qualifying because he did not have the required amount of fuel left in his car.
Albon used a hard set of tires to start the race, on which he drove the first 57 laps of the 58-lap race. He was also helped by several safety car trips and the activation of a virtual safety car.
The Williams pilot was seventh ahead of Esteban Ocon when he finally headed to the mechanics as he entered the final lap, where he switched to a soft orchard. Although Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly came ahead of him, Albon had a sufficient lead over Kuan-yu Chou.
According to Albon, he saved the tires at the beginning of the race, because “when you start last, you can afford it”.
“It was getting better and better, the last 25 laps of the race seemed like qualifying,” Albon told Motorsport.com.
“It’s completely unexpected, of course, but it highlights all the work we’ve done in the factory and here on the track. This happens when you have determination and motivation. It was an amazing day and I am glad that I was able to achieve this result for the team. “
Albon was surprised that the team did not call him to the pits during the VSC or safety car. But Williams’ strategy turned out to be the right one. But the Albon team has to figure out why the FW44 behaves better on a hard set of tires.
“I thought, ‘Well, they probably know something I don’t know.’ One of the Haas in the pits ran into the pits in front of me and at that moment I realized that it would be a difficult race, because the DRS protected me from being overtaken by a pack of riders behind me, “Albon described.
“But once we were in the fresh air, I was on much older tires than the riders around me, but at speed we were more or less sticking to the McLaren. At the end we left for the alps.
“It’s interesting that C2 tires really fit our car. We have to understand this, because this result is unexpected. Maybe we have to leave the qualification and race on this set. Bring us 10 sets for the whole weekend! ”
Albon considers tenth place for Williams to be the same success as its podiums in Tuscany and Bahrain in 2020 at Red Bull.
“It simply came to our notice then. When you have a hard time entering the season, you want to change your form and see positivity in what you do. It’s hard if you don’t get a good result. It’s a challenging time, but it motivates me, it motivates the team, now we are hungry for more points. “
