Alex Albon: “I was licking my lips” for Leclerc attack, ‘thought I could even get Piastri’

After the first seven rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Williams was one of only two teams yet to score a point. A year later, Alex Albon has scored points in all but one of the seven grands prix so far, including three finishes in the top five.

Despite trailing new team-mate Carlos Sainz 3-4 in qualifying head-to-heads (excluding sprints), Albon has shown excellent race form, often proving quicker than Sainz over long runs.

Reflecting on his fifth-place finish at Imola, Albon admitted a slight disappointment due to his strong late-race pace. He felt he might have raced Charles Leclerc differently and, with his pace on fresh tyres, could have potentially put pressure on Oscar Piastri for third.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Albon commented. "On a pure race, we were fighting for P3, P4... Maybe we were a little bit lucky with the VSC, admittedly, but at the same time, got unlucky again on the last safety car. We've got back-to-back P5s and coming away today a bit disappointed, which is a bit strange to say."

He added, "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."

Albon has found excellent form, continuing his skill at tyre management, which offers strategic flexibility. Now that Williams is regularly challenging for points, Albon is receiving deserved praise after honing his skills in the lower midfield.

He admits some surprise at Williams' sustained strong performance, particularly at Imola where he hadn't expected to be especially quick. "It's a weird one. Honestly, I keep telling myself it won't happen again... and then we go to the next race, and we're still very quick again, and it's a bit like, is it circumstantial, is it not?"

Team principal James Vowles noted that Carlos Sainz's arrival has pushed Albon to deliver his best, fostering a collaborative relationship. Vowles highlighted Albon's 'non-political' stance, which encourages open data sharing between the drivers, stating that Albon was openly sharing tips with Sainz from their first meetings.

This collaborative dynamic is unusual in F1 teams, where drivers typically guard their advantages.