Alex Albon explains his anger on the radio at Williams

Alex Albon wanted to clarify his comments made over the radio during the race last Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1.

Alex Albon annoyed

The Williams driver had shown irritation with his team’s strategic choices, declaring over the radio: “I don’t know why you don’t listen to me,” after a decision to pit several laps too late according to him.

This choice caused him to drop in the standings before he retired on the 46th lap due to an engine failure. But according to Alex Albon, the excerpts broadcast on television did not reflect the whole situation.

« I have the impression that they broadcast my radio messages strategically. I was saying each lap that it wasn’t the right decision, but they waited for certain moments to show them », he explains.

He insisted on defending the team: « Honestly, this year we have been very good in strategy. I think we’ve always made the right decisions. In mixed conditions, on dry… Look at Imola, we managed to make the single stop work. In Melbourne or Miami too, we made the right tire choices. »

« This time, we were stuck. We wanted to try a one-stop strategy, thinking we could make up the positions lost at the start. We had the pace, and we thought we could offset the wear with a faster car than the Alpines, for example, which were blocking everyone. »

« But here, when the tire starts to grain, that’s it. And the graining happened later than in free practice 2, so we thought we could extend the stint, but in reality, as soon as it starts, you have to come in. »

The team boss, James Vowles, explained to Sky Sports F1: « Once we missed the first pit stop window for Alex, we had to extend. It’s something he can’t see from his cockpit. For him, it’s just hell being overtaken everywhere. »

Williams regrets a missed opportunity

Carlos Sainz took advantage of Lando Norris’s late retirement to score a point by finishing 10th, despite a difficult qualifying. But at Williams, the overall feeling remains that of a wasted weekend.

« We missed an opportunity this weekend, » acknowledged Alex Albon. « We were fast, but we missed out in qualifying, we need to understand the tires better, and again this sensitivity to the wind that bothered us. »

The car was very competitive in the race, we were easily aiming for the top 10. It’s frustrating to miss out.

For his part, Carlos Sainz added: « If someone had told me yesterday that we would get a point starting from 16th, I would have been proud and happy. But in reality, I am not. »

« This is not the first time that we haven’t mastered everything by Friday. We need to learn better from these mistakes. It’s been several races where we can’t really compete on Sunday, and that makes things complicated. »

Read also: James Vowles signs a new multi-year contract to remain head of the Williams team