Alex Albon reveals Australian Grand Prix tactics after unexpected points finish

Albon picked up a crucial point for Williams after managing his tyres from the back of the field

Alex Albon has revealed the tactics which led to a surprise 10th place finish at the Australian Grand Prix, as he won Williams their first points of the season after starting at the back of the grid.

The former Red Bull driver managed to rise 10 places to give his team a point, moving them off the bottom of the constructors table. Albon himself said he was surprised by the outcome and the team weren’t in the best place ahead of the race.

“We looked at out race predictions and we looked a bit sad,” Albon said per motorsport.com. “It was a race where we took risks, because we felt like no matter what we did we were going to finish 19th or 20th.

“We went into the race starting our race, taking a bit of time to build the tyres up into a nice window, and when you start last you can afford to do that.”

Albon started to believe when he got behind Haas’ Kevin Magnussen but the race and points seemed out of reach when the Danish driver pitted.

Albon added: “I thought one of the Haas’s boxed in front of me [Magnussen], and that was my point where I thought, ‘Okay, it’s going to be a tricky race now,’ because that DRS [from the Haas] was saving me from being overtaken from the pack behind.

“But once we got clear air, we just went. We were on much older tyres than the guys around us, and we were keeping pace more or less with the McLarens. At the every end pulling away from the Alpines. It just got better and better, and by the end it felt like qualifying laps for the last 25 laps of the race.”

Williams team principal Jost Capito is happy with his new driver and told Germany’s Motorsport-Total: “He is relaxed, has a good feeling for the car and works well with the engineers and the team.

“I think he has just the right balance of being a nice guy on the one hand, but then finding the necessary aggressiveness in the car and pushing. He’s a fighter. I expected him to fit in really well with the team, but he even exceeded my expectations.”