Albon: Fifth, “fantastic for the team”

Qualified in the third row, Albon was quickly the only representative of the stable of Whole grained on track, after the exit of Carlos Sainz on the first lap. The Thai driver, like the rest of the field, suffered the ups and downs of a race held in changing conditions. At the fall of the checkered flag, the No. 23 crossed the finish line in fifth place. Initially classified fourth due to a penalty for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the former driver Red Bull dropped back down the rankings after the Italian's penalty was overturned.

After the Grand Prix, Alexander Albon paid tribute to the men and women working trackside and in the factory. While he wasn't always able to see the changing weather conditions from the cockpit of his FW47, the choices he made on the pit wall propelled him to the front, behind the two Mercedes.

"I'm very happy. The race was so crazy, I'm trying to put everything back in place in my head! It's fantastic for the team, first of all.", he explained to the official F1 website, all smiles. "Our strategists did a very good job. I didn't always agree, especially when I was asked to pit for the intermediates. The circuit was completely dry in the first two sectors, but it was the right choice in the end.

It's strange because fifth is a great result, but when it happens in the first race you almost lose the flavor of it! It's for everyone at Grove as well. We've had a really good winter, and the start of the weekend was excellent too. Today, with the changeable conditions, the wind, it's everything we honestly hate. And yet, our car was still relatively competitive and one of the fastest in the midfield."

Albon is "looking forward" to seeing how the season unfolds

It is above all this speed in difficult conditions that motivates the Thai driver for the rest of the season. Having steadily improved over the past several years, Williams seems to have unlocked a little more potential with the FW47, the latest car of this regulatory cycle. Albon therefore expects to fight at the front of the midfield during the 24 Grands Prix, and the ten points scored in Melbourne could weigh heavily in the balance when the accounts are settled after Abu Dhabi.

“The fight in the peloton is always close, but I think we are at the forefront of that fight now. There is still Racing Bulls and Alpine with whom we will fight all year, but we can see that when everything goes well, we can even get close to the top teams. Afterwards, if we are realistic, we fight for ninth or tenth place every weekend, so to score so many points at once means a lot. I am looking forward to seeing how the season goes, because the order in the midfield is not yet clear.

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