As for Albon, he had been left disappointed after failing to make Q3 on Saturday despite showing strong pace throughout practice. But starting 11th on the grid, he managed to climb to ninth – and afterwards explained that using his team mate’s DRS as a defence mechanism had always been on the cards.
“After yesterday looked a bit bleak, let’s just say, the team did a great job and turned it around,” Albon said.
FACTS AND STATS: Ferrari’s maiden 2025 podium and the first Australian title leader since Webber
“We played it safe to create the DRS train to ensure that Isack didn’t overtake us. If we got left alone, I think Carlos and I had a bit better pace than we showed there.
“But we talked about this strategy, it got brought up in the strategy meeting – actually more with Pierre [Gasly], because Pierre was going to have good race pace today. But then obviously Isack [Hadjar] took his place, and we did the same thing, so very happy.”
Williams have returned to fifth in the Teams’ Championship on 25 points, five ahead of Haas – the Grove-based team having already amassed significantly more points than they managed across the entirety of 2024.
.webp?ssl=1 "James Hinchcliffe picks his top five drivers of the 2026 Formula 1 season so far")
