Alex Albon has expressed frustration at himself after witnessing what might have been given the heroics of Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz in Azerbaijan.
Albon went into the race on a run of scoring points in 11 of the 13 grands prix in which he had seen the chequered flag this season, and with the Baku City Circuit expected to yield a strong haul for the Grove-based team.
The Thai-British driver, however, wrecked his hopes of another top-10 finish when he uncharacteristically clipped a barrier on the inside of Turn 1, breaking the front-left suspension on his car, leading to him starting on the back row of the grid.
Albon could only muster 13th at the line, with his scruffy weekend underlined when he tangled with Alpine's Franco Colapinto at one stage, earning a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Now in his fourth season with Williams, Albon has still to score a podium. In stark contrast, despite what has been a difficult year for Sainz since his move from Ferrari, the Spanish driver scored the team's first top-three finish in a full race for eight years.
"Firstly, I'm really happy for Carlos," said Albon, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365. "He drove a very solid weekend from qualifying to the race. He was mistake-free, which, with the weather and the conditions, was not easy.
"And the car was quick. I'm frustrated at myself because I haven't scored points in a weekend when it was maybe the easiest of them to score points, but it happens.
"At the same time, it's great for the constructors' championship with the points Carlos scored, and great for himself as well.
"He's always been extremely quick, but he's been unfortunate, so good to get it. It's good to shake off the bad luck, so good for him."
Albon's frustration was amplified by the fact that he knew he had a quick car underneath him all weekend, particularly during the race, but he was unable to make it count.
"I think we must have been one of the only cars that could just about get away with overtaking other cars in DRS trains," remarked Albon.
"We had the pace to do it. We obviously were quick on track. Rightfully so, a lot of the midfield cars reacted to me pitting, and would try to cover me immediately out of the pit lane.
"It then got a bit scrappy with Franco - my fault - but when we did have clean air, which was maybe for 10 laps of the race, we were quick. We just didn't really ever get there.
"Obviously, the damage was done in qualifying."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Oscar Piastri's shock Baku crashes are a major talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen has drawn himself back into the F1 title fight.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
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