Alex Albon and the Williams squad grabbed their first points of the 2022 season at the Australian Grand Prix, due to a risky gamble on an unconventional tactic.
Alex Albon confesses that his comeback to the points at the Australian Grand Prix surprised him, since he had set to complete no higher than P19.
After the FIA was still unable to retrieve the one litre of fuel needed from his car for scrutineering inspections, the British-Thai driver was banned from qualifying.
As a consequence, Albon and the Williams team had low expectations for Sunday’s race, but they managed to score their first point of the season by placing P10.
“We went into this race thinking the best position we could finish was 19th,” Albon admitted after the Grand Prix.
“And it wasn’t like a close 19th, it was a little bit in no man’s land, so it was a bit of a surprise.”
Albon admits strategy gamble paid off
It was chosen to execute an unconventional strategy for Albon, given their prospects of a tough race ahead.
The former Red Bull driver ran on the same pair of Hard tyres for 57 circuits of the 58-lap race before pitting to swap to the Soft compound on the final lap.
“We took a gamble,” Albon explained.
“We just thought, ‘Why not change the strategy to everyone else? If we’re going to finish 19th, we might as well try something new.’
“The tyre lasted, it was amazing. We found that that tyre suits our car really well.”
Albon is glad to see Williams have some achievement after a difficult start to the 2022 season.
“That’s the result, so I’m super happy, obviously,” he added.
“The team deserve it. It’s obviously been a tough start to the season, but to get a point is special.”
Having great speed on old tyres is “surreal”
Albon was shocked at how much speed he still had as the race progressed, despite his tyres’ age.
“It was one of [those] things,” the driver reflected.
“Everyone around us had 20-lap fresher tyres most of the time. I think there was a Haas in front of me [at one stage], and I was like, ‘I’m just staying with him, and that’s stopping everyone overtaking me.’
“Once he boxed, I was like, ‘Okay, well, the train is going to pass me now.’ But we had great pace, and we were pulling away.
“It was a bit surreal to do that but, yeah, very special.”
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