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Alex Albon was left mystified by what transpired in the Spanish GP. The Thai-British driver talked about how the tires were just not holding up during the long runs. The Williams driver was the only one who made as many as four pit stops as compared to the conventional three-stop strategy. The fact that he was still in tire-preservation mode despite this left him confused.
Speaking to the media about the condition of tires in the race, he said:
“During the laps on the way to the grid, my tires were already wearing out. We did a four-stop, but I could have done a five- or six-stop and I would probably have been faster. There was just unbelievable tire wear. I think in Turn three and Turn nine I was 20 km/h slower than the rest. It was just really hard.”
Albon stressed that he could not drive slow enough for the tires to hold on and despite trying everything, they just didn't have enough life in them. He said:
“I couldn’t drive slow enough. I drove as slow as I could, but the tires still wore out and not just a little bit. I drove my first three laps two and a half to three seconds slower than I normally would, but the tires went still going back a lot.”
Reflecting on the situation, the Williams driver wondered whether there was something wrong with the car, calling his situation during the race "a bit strange."
“Normally we are not that bad. I think there is something we need to check because this is not normal. It was a bit strange. The wear was high and we expected that, but what happened in the race was a bit strange.”
Albon ended up finishing the race in P18, just ahead of Charles Leclerc and Zhou Guanyu, both of whom had DNFd.
Alex Albon lost out to Nicholas Latifi for the first time this season
Alex Albon has outperformed and outscored his teammate Nicholas Latifi in every race so far this season. Even during the Spanish GP weekend, Albon had about three tenths of a second over Latifi in qualifying. However, with Albon struggling with his tires in the race, the Iranian-Canadian driver finally managed to finish ahead of his teammate in P16.
A post-race investigation revealed that Alex Albon's car had had significant floor damage that had led to his race being compromised.
Catch both the drivers at the Monaco GP on Sunday, May 29, 2022.
