Alex Albon chalks up maiden DHL Fastest Lap in Formula 1

The race weekend at Interlagos always dishes up plenty of thrills in the form of dramatic collisions and spectacular overtaking maneuvers, and this year was no exception. Contrary to all expectations, the weather rose to the occasion, delivering damp track conditions only for Saturday’s sprint. In Sunday’s Grand Prix race, the teams went with a variety of strategies, with only a few drivers starting on hard tires. Most prominent among them was Max Verstappen, who mounted a furious charge through the field from the pit lane to claim the third podium spot.

Alex Albon also fought his way through the field more than once. The Williams driver started from 12th place on medium tires and came into the pits very late – too late, in his opinion. It was not until lap 35 that he picked up fresh soft tires, dropping down from P6 to last place in the process. He subsequently managed to get back into the Top Ten, but after 20 more laps, his tires totally lost performance.

Once again, he had to stage a comeback, this time on new medium tires. In the course of progressing through the pack on the 4.3km Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Albon set the first DHL Fastest Lap of his Formula 1 career with a time of just 1:12.400 minutes on lap 59. In the first DRS zone between turns three and four, he overtook Franco Colapinto and shortly afterwards caught up with Fernando Alonso.

In a close battle with Pierre Gasly, Albon narrowly missed out on the points, finishing eleventh. “It was a race to forget for us,” said the Williams driver, despite his impressive charge. “We were quick when we were fighting our way back up the grid, but we stayed out too long on the first stint, so we just missed out.”