“We had enough [for the top 10], we had more than enough to be honest,” Albon said after the race. “We were coming through the field really well on the hard tyre, we were about to go into a net P8 and then the Safety Car came out at the wrong time.
“We then had to double stack both cars so I lost another two positions in the pit stop and then we were P12.”
Albon wound up on the preferred medium compound tyre late on, and was closing in on the top 10, having DRS (drag reduction system) on Kimi Antonelli, who in turn was just half a second behind Ollie Bearman.
But Haas driver Bearman held on to the final point, leaving Albon with his lowest finishing slot of the year – the Thai driver having claimed P5, P7 and P9 in Australia, China and Japan respectively.
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“For me, it feels more like a missed opportunity. We didn’t qualify where we should have, just got a little bit stuck in the pit lane yesterday,” Albon added.
.webp?ssl=1 "The state of play at Haas after three rounds of the 2026 season")
.webp?ssl=1 "The state of play at Alpine after three rounds of the 2026 season")
