Alex Albon says his rise through the field in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was thanks largely to the low-downforce set-up on his Williams FW44. Having failed to set a time during qualifying after his rear brakes caught fire, Albon could only finish 18th in Saturday's Sprint race, condemning him to start from that position for Sunday's Grand Prix. However, a good getaway saw him gain three places on Lap 1, which became four when Fernando Alonso retired five laps later. Albon then jumped Lewis Hamilton after his tyre stop before passing Pierre Gasly for 12th. Despite Albon being within DRS range of the train of cars behind him for much of the race's second half, the Anglo-Thai held firm to finish in 12th place, which became 11th after Esteban Ocon took a five-second penalty.
Williams "making the most of opportunities"
"We maximised what we could do," Albon told media, including RacingNews365.com . "We overtook some cars on-track, with pace, and then they were quicker than us, and we held off. "We obviously had a low downforce configuration for this weekend, which [was] not fun for the others, but for us, it kept us in front. "We don't have the fastest car out there, but we're making the most of our opportunities, and I feel like it's a shame we missed out on points by one position. "But it just shows you that we're taking opportunities and we're doing things different, and we almost made it work again [after the Australian Grand Prix]."
Albon "frustrated" at late DRS activation
With the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix starting in damp conditions, DRS was not enabled by Race Control until Lap 34 of the 63-lap race, long after a dry line had emerged and the entire field had switched onto slick tyres. This drew criticism from drivers and observers alike, with many claiming that DRS should have been activated far sooner. For his part, Albon noted that the system's earlier introduction would have facilitated his rise through the pack, though he added that its eventual deployment made it harder for him to defend against the train of cars he had behind him at that point in the race. "I was wanting it to come out earlier, because I had six or seven laps when I was a lot quicker than the cars in front, and I knew, with our downforce level, we could overtake these cars straight away with DRS," said Albon. "I was a bit frustrated that it took so long to come in. Obviously, once it did come in, I was wishing it hadn't!”
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