Albon satisfied: "Was one of my stronger weekends”
F1 News
- GPblog.com
After the Portuguese Grand Prix, Formula 1 connoisseurs, fans and commentators tumbled over each other to explain the future of Alexander Albon at Red Bull Racing. Albon himself, however, had a different opinion.
Strong weekend
Albon was only 12th in the Grand Prix of Portugal and was lapped by his teammate Max Verstappen. However, Albon does see improvement. "In my opinion, over the Free Practice sessions and qualifying, it was one of my stronger weekends this year. I felt like we were pretty solid and whilst qualifying could have gone better, in general it has been improving throughout the year which I’m happy about," the Thai remains positive.
However, where things didn't go well yet was at the start, Albon also admits. "I had a poor start and the first few opening laps weren’t good as we were struggling with cold tyres and no grip. Once the tyres were up to temperature everything was fine but by then the damage was done.” Albon therefore prefers to look ahead: "I’m looking forward to putting it behind us and having a solid weekend in Imola which is a track that I’m excited to drive at again.”
Cool circuit
Albon previously drove at Imola in Formula Renault, in his first year in motor racing. "It’s a really cool circuit and super historical so I’m excited to drive there in a Formula One car. Imola is very, very quick which is always fun for a driver and it’s similar to Suzuka in that it’s about high speed precision with very little margin for error.”
Because overtaking is likely to be difficult at Imola, a good qualifiying on Saturday is essential. "I think it will be important to be up there so that we can race in clean air and fight at the front so we don’t lose time battling other cars.”