Albon was heroic but unrewarded in Canada

Last year, on the same Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Alexander Albon impressed the paddock. Extending his stint on hard tires as much as possible, the Thai driver managed to make the most of his car’s lightning-fast and formidable top speed to keep his rivals, despite being on new tires, behind him and secure an impressive 7th position. This year, the Williams no longer has this same advantage on the straights. In trying to soften the flaws of their car, the Grove engineers had to erase its greatest strength. So much so that the FW46, compared to its older sister, has become a mediocre car on all circuits and exceptional nowhere. Therefore, replicating the feat of 2023 was going to prove compromised.

However, until the 53rd lap, Albon was having a perfect race that was leading him to a 10th place finish. A perfect race because unlike his garage neighbor, Logan Sargeant, who stumbled twice despite a promising pace, the former Red Bull driver didn’t make any mistakes. Better yet, he dazzled the audience with a stunning double overtake on the 30th lap.

A daring overtaking

Going back to the 30th lap, one lap after the race restart, Alexander Albon exits the hairpin of the 10th corner with a reasonable distance to Daniel Ricciardo’s gearbox. He gradually positions himself alongside the Australian’s car to overtake on the left. To his surprise, he finds himself blocked on the outside line by Esteban Ocon’s relatively cautious braking. Albon then shifts gradually to the inside line, forcing Ricciardo to cooperate to avoid an incident. He manages to slip through a tight gap, between the rear right wheel of the Alpine and the front wing of the VCARB, going from 11th to 9th in one fell swoop.

This heroic overtaking will not be rewarded. About twenty laps from the finish, his path crosses that of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, in total distress. Spinning, the Spaniard does not stop his car. Albon is clipped and fails in his race against the wall.

Alexander Albon leaves Montreal without a second consecutive points finish. He reacted to his unlucky retirement: “It’s a disappointing end to our race. Points were clearly within reach and the car was performing well with different tires in these mixed conditions. We didn’t take unnecessary risks and executed our race plan correctly. With these weather conditions, it was inevitably going to be a survival game and we were caught up in the mistakes of others. That’s racing, I don’t think we could have done anything differently.”

Ironically, this incident between the Thai and the Spaniard occurs after rumors have circulated that the latter could join the former at Williams.

Alexander Albon currently holds 16th place in the driver standings with two points to his name.