Zero points for Red Bull: Albon still saw himself winning!
Alex Albon is one of the big losers of the first race of the season, after his collision with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. Disappointment also for Red Bull with the premature retirement of Max Verstappen due to mechanical failure!
In the shadow of Verstappen, Alex Albon had his moment of glory this Sunday in Austria for the inaugural race of the season. Starting 4th, just ahead of Hamilton, the Thai driver didn’t play the hero in the first part of the race, not overly resisting the Mercedes driver, who had passed him once. But with Max Verstappen’s retirement on lap 14, Albon climbed onto the temporary podium of the Grand Prix.
Taking advantage later of the second Safety Car deployment, following the stoppage of Russell’s Williams on the side of the track, Albon smelled a good opportunity by pitting on lap 51 to fit soft tires.
As the only driver on track with these tires, the Red Bull driver had a card to play. Overtaking Pérez at the second corner right after the restart, just before the Safety Car intervened for the third and final time, Albon then had 10 laps to shine, behind the two Mercedes.
But his luck turned from the third restart, on lap 61: Albon collided with Hamilton at the exit of the third corner while trying to overtake him. Wheel-to-wheel with the Mercedes, the Thai driver was sent into the gravel trap. Falling to the last position, driver #23 later retired due to a mechanical problem.
« I was careful. But there you have it, that’s how it is. I really felt that we could have won this race, » Albon regretted afterward on the microphone of the journalists present in the paddock.
Of course I think Mercedes had a better race pace, but the guys (editor’s note: Red Bull) did a great job with the strategy, lamented the big loser of the day.
Just like in Brazil in November 2019, Hamilton and Albon collided once again! Here too; the Mercedes driver received a 5-second penalty on his race time. Albon, for his part, exempted himself from any responsibility regarding the incident: « I felt like I had already made the overtake. I was already focused on my overtake with Bottas ahead. »
There is always a risk when passing outside, but I gave him as much space as I could, I was at the limit, concluded Albon, who also missed another opportunity to secure his first podium in F1.
Albon: « I was cautious. But there it is, that’s how it is. I really felt that we could have won this race »
Also defended by his team, his boss Christian Horner has the feeling that his driver did the job this Sunday. For him, the main person responsible is Hamilton: « it was just a misjudgment by Lewis. It would be nice if he apologized for what he did! » even emphasized the Red Bull team principal.
For his part, Max Verstappen watched the scene from the paddock: winner in 2018 and 2019, the Dutchman this time retired from the Austrian Grand Prix after a mechanical problem occurred on the 14th lap of the race.
Second behind Bottas at that moment, the Dutchman said he “suddenly lost power,” switching to “anti-stall mode.” For Verstappen, the podium would have been “easily reachable.” Although the exact reason for his mechanical failure is not yet known, the problem is, according to Christian Horner, different from the one encountered by Albon. In any case, Red Bull Racing remains with the score stuck at zero points after the first Grand Prix, like Williams, Alfa Romeo, and Haas.
