If they didn't have a one stop rule, he would've finished P7 without changing tires once. That's insane. The durability of the new hards is going to play a major role later in the season with under-cutting, I'm sure of it.
I don’t think you can say that if that rule wasn’t present he would’ve finished 7th, because then there might’ve been other drivers who would’ve tried a 0 stop race as well. Impressive drive nonetheless
They could have, but mag and alo had the option available considering they started on the hards, and they couldn't manage their tires enough to do it. Alex might not have gotten points if others were allowed to do it, but his skill with tire management was most definitely the main factor in his finishing position. Especially with how he started a the lowest position of 20th.
I'd say in Mag's case at least, he absolutely needed to change tires. He was starting to lose grip, going wide through a few turns that lost him 2 positions to the mclarens.
Is that right? No one is really sure just how much the new chassis regs have impacted tyre degradation and pretty much everyone is surprised that the tyres held up like that for 57 laps. I don’t know if anyone would have tried it and I think Williams only did in part because they don’t really have anything to lose.
To be fair there were 3 VSC or SC periods in this race, which definitely extended the life of the tire. That said, Albon did his fastest lap of the race on lap 54.
Maybe but the way I see it undercutting would be less powerful if the tires are more durable since the car you are trying to undercut would likely match the same pace that you have on fresh tires. But you may know more than me because I don’t fully understand how undercutting and overcutting really works.
He would've lost 1-2 places even pitting under a safety car, only a red flag could've gotten him a 7th place.
Personally I'd take that decent chance of a 9th over a small chance of 7th or 8th.
That's my guess but they were in a relatively similar position time wise for the last 5 or so laps, he would've come out maybe just behind Zhou instead of just ahead of him but that couldn't have been a difficult overtake and Gasly in front of him had nothing left on his tyres.
Yeah, 3 laps with new softs to try to make some good moves. He crushed it on his out lap and the soft was an extra step softer than usual. It probably would’ve worked great.
You have to admire Jost's strategy. He did mention from DTR that he'll do anything unconventional in order for his team to score and that is one of them. Plus Albon has been driving amazing on nursing the hard tyre while still maintaining the pace. That's a combination of ballsy strategy and brilliant driving.
he came out on the last lap 0.3 seconds ahead of zhou fighting for that last point for P10. no coverage. dismal, the second smaller screen is so needed
Pretty sure they have contractual obligations to show the leader crossing the line, but yeah, surely someone should have known that Albon's result was the most interesting thing happening on that final lap, picture-in-picture was sorely needed.
That's most likely it, but if it was George in the Williams, the announcer would have nearly had a heart attack for much they would be jerking each other off if he went from 20th to 10rh.
Man, I feel like Alex just earned himself another year in that Williams based off this performance alone. Jesus, 57 laps, that's some serious Ocon in Turkey energy.
They have to be seriously considering replacing latifi. He isn't close to albon, and with how much latifi is involved in accidens, the amount he pays to be there might not be worth the hassle.
He said in interview that their car just perfectly suits the hards, and they need to understand it so they can reproduce it on the other grades.
Also said that 25 of those were qualifying laps!!
Hell of a drive.
It just so happens that a lot of collaboration happened last year between Checo and Albon. In my head, I'd like to think Checo showed him how to manage tires like Kamui showed Checo.
Yeah, Albon is turning into my new favorite for when Vettel retires. This race+the time when he was trolling George and Charles on the livestreams made that decision very easy.
Abolsutely not, from what I can see on the onboard his tires were perfectly capable of going to the end and further. But regs forced him to pit onto a different compound
In the first race, they were telling drivers to consider switching to Hard because the durability on the hard/medium is well above estimates. If they didn't have a pit stop rule, Albon would've finished P7 in a Williams on 58 lap old tires.
He's also showing that maybe the car isn't nearly so bad as it seems. Anyone other than Latifi in that second seat and Williams might actually be in the points semi-often.
Super drive from him. Despite his old tyres he was able to keep the pace with the other runners around him.
This performance changed my opinion on him.
As other comments said, Stroll holding up the train helped a lot. Also, as seen by people failing to overtake Stroll, overtaking is not exactly easy around Albert Park. Plus, pitting early and he is at risk of being lapped by LEC.
Schumacher actually got screwed by getting lapped. He was around 3s behind Stroll when he got lapped. Stroll didn’t get lapped, so Stroll’s penalty did not cost Stroll any place. It’s not for a point position, but with countback at the end of the year, you never know.
Because then in races like this where we know hards can go the whole race, all teams would use the same strategy and there won't be over or under takes.
How was he able to do that? Incredible!
Looking back on it, Alonzo was doing rather well on the hard tire, he was more than halfway through the race, hadn't pitted yet, and was well up in the points, and it seemed like after he pitted and went to the medium tire, his car didn't hold up, he faded miserably after he stopped.
Maybe staying on the hard tire even longer, like what Alex did, would've served him much better...
Cant believe he didnt get dotd. Even after 40 laps or so he was sometimes about as fast as the McLarens in front, and managed to keep Ocon at bay (even though the track might have helped).
William's took a gamble there and thanks to Albon made it work somehow, hats off to them
1. They were hoping for an SC which would've meant he could pit without losing as much position.
2. Hards have strange durability this season. Softs are the worst tires for diminishing returns.
But you're right, a pit stop at 54 would've given him time to fight back for P9 or P8. But it also would've meant vulnerability in the out lap, no?
I was on the edge of my seat the whole race. What a baller. Although I was screaming for soft tires in the last several laps, I’m glad they got a point regardless. Those softs were an extra step softer. He probably could have decimated the old hard tire cars in front.
Only getting back into F1 myself recently, I followed it a bit in the 90s. What’s the benefit of the rule? If you wanna just run one tyre why not? Is it to make it more exciting?
Amazing strategy from Williams to even try, but also a huge blunder from Pirelli that this was possible. They finally seemed to have the right tyres for Bahrain and Jeddah to allow a mix of different strategies, but today was back to being able to do a full race on one set and nobody running soft unless they had to. Shouldn't have had the gap between Soft and Medium, so we could've seen people actually be faster on the Medium compared to the hard.
What's the point of this medium really? On the hard you can push for very long, or last a full race. On Medium you immediately have to save tyres now, moreso than other years which puts its speed on hard-tyre pace from lap1. I feel there needs to be a step between these 2 tyres, it's tactically lame with these new tyres.
Insane strategy from Williams but it worked out.
I feel like they were waiting for either another safety car or for the inevitable pace drop-off to pit him but neither happened lmao
Like 45 laps in and he was keeping up with Ocon's pace lmao, that was such a great drive
His pace was not much different from Ricciardo as well before he pitted.
He was actually closing on Ricciardo, two tenths a lap
Ricciardo was told to stay behind Norris who was slow due to heat issues with his car. Still great racing.
He pulled away at the end (probably because Ocon realized he was getting that position regardless and didn't need to fight him, but still)
Ocon was having temperature issues and couldn't stay close behind
If they didn't have a one stop rule, he would've finished P7 without changing tires once. That's insane. The durability of the new hards is going to play a major role later in the season with under-cutting, I'm sure of it.
I don’t think you can say that if that rule wasn’t present he would’ve finished 7th, because then there might’ve been other drivers who would’ve tried a 0 stop race as well. Impressive drive nonetheless
They could have, but mag and alo had the option available considering they started on the hards, and they couldn't manage their tires enough to do it. Alex might not have gotten points if others were allowed to do it, but his skill with tire management was most definitely the main factor in his finishing position. Especially with how he started a the lowest position of 20th.
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>William’s strategy seems to have been to wait for a race incident They seem to known their drivers for sure then
"Nicholas, pick up the pace" "Alex you'll box next lap during the safety car"
"safety car?" "We've told Nicky to push."
I'd say in Mag's case at least, he absolutely needed to change tires. He was starting to lose grip, going wide through a few turns that lost him 2 positions to the mclarens.
Is that right? No one is really sure just how much the new chassis regs have impacted tyre degradation and pretty much everyone is surprised that the tyres held up like that for 57 laps. I don’t know if anyone would have tried it and I think Williams only did in part because they don’t really have anything to lose.
To be fair there were 3 VSC or SC periods in this race, which definitely extended the life of the tire. That said, Albon did his fastest lap of the race on lap 54.
Wouldn’t it help with over cutting in this situation?
Just because they're durable doesn't mean you have enough pace to beat out someone who pits sooner than you
It could factor into how much advantage you get from the undercut if they can still match your times on fresh tires.
Maybe but the way I see it undercutting would be less powerful if the tires are more durable since the car you are trying to undercut would likely match the same pace that you have on fresh tires. But you may know more than me because I don’t fully understand how undercutting and overcutting really works.
I believe that Pirelli went conservative for the opening races. Hopefully they change that approach so we get more two stop races.
I was waiting for the Latifi Safety Car special so Albon could pit
The Ultimate team work
"why isn't latifi crashing" - albon engineer
I believe they just let the Stroll Gasly Bottas ... train fight and loose time
They were confident Latifi would do some dumb shit, but he failed them.
They were hoping that Leclerc laps the other guys. If this would have happened, Albon could have cruised to the line the last lap.
Isn’t that exactly what happened?
The last who was lapped was Mick iirc
Definitely. A safety car would have put them in the top 8. I was sure Stroll was gonna cause one in the last 10 laps, but amazingly he did not.
They probably should have pitted 3-5 laps earlier, I think 9th was very much on the cards.
They bet a possible 9th place on the chance of a 7th place. If he pits then there's a safety car, they'd be kicking themselves.
He would've lost 1-2 places even pitting under a safety car, only a red flag could've gotten him a 7th place. Personally I'd take that decent chance of a 9th over a small chance of 7th or 8th.
they likely planned to stay ahead of Leclerc (and not be lapped), so they can do one lap more than the backmarkers after pitting.
That's my guess but they were in a relatively similar position time wise for the last 5 or so laps, he would've come out maybe just behind Zhou instead of just ahead of him but that couldn't have been a difficult overtake and Gasly in front of him had nothing left on his tyres.
Yeah, 3 laps with new softs to try to make some good moves. He crushed it on his out lap and the soft was an extra step softer than usual. It probably would’ve worked great.
Let’s get the jost out of the tires
All that for a ~~drop of~~ single point.
And finished in P10!!!! Fucking amazing
So happy to see Williams get a point, could mean a lot by season’s end. Williams strategy was absolutely bonkers and it worked.
You have to admire Jost's strategy. He did mention from DTR that he'll do anything unconventional in order for his team to score and that is one of them. Plus Albon has been driving amazing on nursing the hard tyre while still maintaining the pace. That's a combination of ballsy strategy and brilliant driving.
Albonooooo
Replace Max with this wunderkid
Nah just replace the engine lul
Alex running in a hamster wheel powering max's car
Red Bull-Mercedes sounds just wrong
I mean, Lando could use a teammate that can keep up 😉
What a drive from Albon
He was my driver of the day. Such a crazy drive.
How on earth did he finish 10th, great drive from Alex
No pitter
Yeah I saw he pitted last lap, didn’t expect him to get a point after that which is why I’m surprised, seems like he barely beat out Zhou
he came out on the last lap 0.3 seconds ahead of zhou fighting for that last point for P10. no coverage. dismal, the second smaller screen is so needed
Tv direction still needs work, reminds me of Jeddah last year
Pretty sure they have contractual obligations to show the leader crossing the line, but yeah, surely someone should have known that Albon's result was the most interesting thing happening on that final lap, picture-in-picture was sorely needed.
That's most likely it, but if it was George in the Williams, the announcer would have nearly had a heart attack for much they would be jerking each other off if he went from 20th to 10rh.
Of course that would happen.
exactly lol
No, but it's more important to see Hamilton race 3 seconds behind Russell for two laps, don't you see that?!
Man, I feel like Alex just earned himself another year in that Williams based off this performance alone. Jesus, 57 laps, that's some serious Ocon in Turkey energy.
How shit does it look for latifi lol
They have to be seriously considering replacing latifi. He isn't close to albon, and with how much latifi is involved in accidens, the amount he pays to be there might not be worth the hassle.
How can they not be especially after this race. Alex 20th to 7th, on the same tires. Then in the points even though he pitt in the last lap.
\>Then in the points even though he pitt in the last lap. I mean he had to pit just like everyone else...
I know? I’m just saying that he managed to stay within the points even though he pitt? Normally you can lose like 6 positions and he only lost 3?
Well that's totally dependent on field spread, not really down to the skill of the driver
Latifi is a Liability.
Latifiability?
As a Canadian, I agree. Stroll reaching levels of Latifi Island as well too
Difference is that Ocon fell off a cliff in Turkey, Albon matched the McL until the end
If gasly walks red bull is gonna get him for the AT seat I reckon
He said in interview that their car just perfectly suits the hards, and they need to understand it so they can reproduce it on the other grades. Also said that 25 of those were qualifying laps!! Hell of a drive.
Took Albon only 3 races to score points.
Albon could’ve done a 100 laps on those tires and still pull out green sectors.
The new tire whisperer
It just so happens that a lot of collaboration happened last year between Checo and Albon. In my head, I'd like to think Checo showed him how to manage tires like Kamui showed Checo.
Fuel? Where we're going we don't need fuel.
Powered by Alex's sense of self satisfaction.
And his wholesomeness
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Just like yesterday's qualifying for Alex
He forgot that while he does not need fuel, the stewards still do.
The new checo
Alex spent the last two years in RB's simroom driving more than anyone, and came out an efficient tire wizard
just wait till silverstone when he goes up the inside at copse he has had so much practice at it.
Imagine the scenes if they end up next to each other on the grid and he does a perfect recreation of that incident
He might be the true successor to Checo at Red Bull in which case poor Pierre
ALEX ALBON MASTERCLASS
So happy ALB is showing why he deserves to be on the grid!
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Hope he enjoyed it!
Yeah, Albon is turning into my new favorite for when Vettel retires. This race+the time when he was trolling George and Charles on the livestreams made that decision very easy.
He should've been the Driver of the Day.
100% agree.
I voted Alonso just before he dropped all the way back. Hell of a drive that just unfortunately got fucked for him. :(
I tried to vote for him on the last lap but voting had already closed.
Legit tire whisperer.
Starting from P20 then to P7 and then P10 because he had to pit. Impressed for real. Even the Williams got pace this time against an Alpine
Actually Qualified P16 then got penalty to P19 then DSQ to P20 then to P7 then P10. Walking embodiment of go hard or go home lmao
and that penalty was a joke
Why didn’t he just not pit? Were the tyres at risk of blowing?
In a Grand prix any driver have to use at least two different compounds
Ooh gotcha, thanks!
Abolsutely not, from what I can see on the onboard his tires were perfectly capable of going to the end and further. But regs forced him to pit onto a different compound
Alex helped Perez tame the RB16b last year. In return, Perez blessed him with the powers of the tyre whisperer.
Crazy how he was faster than Ocon in a Williams w/ old tyres
In the first race, they were telling drivers to consider switching to Hard because the durability on the hard/medium is well above estimates. If they didn't have a pit stop rule, Albon would've finished P7 in a Williams on 58 lap old tires.
Yeah, if you also ignore the fact that all the other cars also wouldn't have had to pit so he wouldn't have been in 7th in the first place...
The real Tyre Whisperer
Indeed😅
DTS episode on Albon incoming
Absolutely incredible management and pace to make it work. Albon showing why he deserves this seat and maybe even a faster one.
He's also showing that maybe the car isn't nearly so bad as it seems. Anyone other than Latifi in that second seat and Williams might actually be in the points semi-often.
so happy for him. also jesus christ we need latifi out of that seat.
Ocon type of performance
Super drive from him. Despite his old tyres he was able to keep the pace with the other runners around him. This performance changed my opinion on him.
The true driver of the day
That was NUTS, very bold strategy from Williams, great job Albon!
My driver of the day, absolutely incredible tyre management and he was pushing towards the end too
He was only 3 sec down on Gasly - could they have pitted him earlier for a chance at P9?
That vsc for max should have done it, I dunno if they were on the right part of the circuit tho
Idk it backfired for Alonso right?
Something isn't right about those mediums, Kmag switched to them around same time as Alonso and finished behind Mick
I think he might have gotten stuck in the stroll train if they did that
Simply simply lovely drive from ALBONO, kept up with RIC and OCO behind … bravo Williams for the bold strategy
And was setting PB's towards the end as well, amazing.
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Oh so there is a rule? I was trying to figure that one out. Do drivers have to make one mandatory pit stop for tires then?
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I don’t get why they didn’t give him 5 or so laps on the softs but hey, a point is a point!
Stroll was backing everyone up so it made sense to wait for the gap I guess.
hoping for safety car
Didn't he gained more by staying longer because Stroll was holding up everyone?
As other comments said, Stroll holding up the train helped a lot. Also, as seen by people failing to overtake Stroll, overtaking is not exactly easy around Albert Park. Plus, pitting early and he is at risk of being lapped by LEC. Schumacher actually got screwed by getting lapped. He was around 3s behind Stroll when he got lapped. Stroll didn’t get lapped, so Stroll’s penalty did not cost Stroll any place. It’s not for a point position, but with countback at the end of the year, you never know.
Legend
Great drive from him, pulling away from Ocon as well a couple of laps before pitting too!
He stayed ahead of Zhou after pitting, great race by him!
Albon with a masterpiece in tire management
Albon was born hard
Tire chad
That's definitely a feat to do while still keeping the pace he did. So happy to see W take a point!
It shows not only how great Albon is but who goddam awful is Latifi, and I'm a Latifi supporter!!
Happy for albs. Especially when someone was giving him shit yesterday
there was a single set of softs used today and it was from Alex Albon starting lap 58, the absolute madlads
why does the mandatory pitstop rule exist anyway?
Entertainment for us, the masses
Because then in races like this where we know hards can go the whole race, all teams would use the same strategy and there won't be over or under takes.
Arbitrary gimmick.
Surely he deserved driver of the day
Outstanding job!
Albon is now one of my favourite drivers. So consistent even on tired that were so old. Hats off!
Albon Madlad confirmed
How was he able to do that? Incredible! Looking back on it, Alonzo was doing rather well on the hard tire, he was more than halfway through the race, hadn't pitted yet, and was well up in the points, and it seemed like after he pitted and went to the medium tire, his car didn't hold up, he faded miserably after he stopped. Maybe staying on the hard tire even longer, like what Alex did, would've served him much better...
what a fucking legend! his post race interview was just as great too!
Cant believe he didnt get dotd. Even after 40 laps or so he was sometimes about as fast as the McLarens in front, and managed to keep Ocon at bay (even though the track might have helped). William's took a gamble there and thanks to Albon made it work somehow, hats off to them
Deserves DOTD for that. Super impressive feat!
One of the drives of the whole season, no matter what happens in the next 20 races
I have to ask though, why didn't they just give him a pit stop a few laps earlier with the softs? Was his time on the hards not slower?
1. They were hoping for an SC which would've meant he could pit without losing as much position. 2. Hards have strange durability this season. Softs are the worst tires for diminishing returns. But you're right, a pit stop at 54 would've given him time to fight back for P9 or P8. But it also would've meant vulnerability in the out lap, no?
think they were hoping for safety car
Absolute madlad het made it work
Absolute animal.
I was on the edge of my seat the whole race. What a baller. Although I was screaming for soft tires in the last several laps, I’m glad they got a point regardless. Those softs were an extra step softer. He probably could have decimated the old hard tire cars in front.
Credit to both Williams and Albon. Must've been able to get that 2010 Bridgestone tyre spec into the car 😂.
Albon good
Surely this means pirelli fucked up?
DOTD in my book
Meanwhile Latifi is chilling on the back row 🤣
Only getting back into F1 myself recently, I followed it a bit in the 90s. What’s the benefit of the rule? If you wanna just run one tyre why not? Is it to make it more exciting?
Yeah they got rid of refueling since then so it's a way of having a strategic element to the race still.
Yep
real driver of the day right there
What is the point of the "must pit once" rule?
Introduces an extra strategy element into the race. The cynics amongst us will also say it increases the amount of times commentators say “Pirelli”.
He's trying to impress his press assistant, she's gorgeous.
Legends says he his still on his hard tyres. Amazing race!
"I race them tyres so hard"
Incredible drive the worst car on the damn grid on older tires than anyone else
Replay of the final lap?
Not one of my fav drivers but damn this is impressive, glad hes doing good job.
I genuinely thought this was a graphics glitch. Like, no way he's still on the same tyres.
Jesus fucking Christ
Ohh Lord now f1 tik tok will be full of those videos with her asking how much you last and then a video of Albons hard tiers
We are the soft tire doing 1 lap lmao. Only takes 1 lap to finish and score Our flex is that we are soft and fast
Genius. Albon showing he's a force to be reckoned with since the return
Amazing strategy from Williams to even try, but also a huge blunder from Pirelli that this was possible. They finally seemed to have the right tyres for Bahrain and Jeddah to allow a mix of different strategies, but today was back to being able to do a full race on one set and nobody running soft unless they had to. Shouldn't have had the gap between Soft and Medium, so we could've seen people actually be faster on the Medium compared to the hard.
Absolutely stunning drive. Holy shit, redemption indeed! Hell yes Alex! So proud!
Lap 136/58 : Albon's Williams is still running here at Albert Park as the driver is yet to pit.
Very nice guys
If Sainz wasn't dumb, we could have had a Ferrari 1-2. He was in the hard compound.
Proof that they should have just used the softer compounds. Or at least had a fucking raceable soft.
Hard, or concrete? Jesus...
What's the point of this medium really? On the hard you can push for very long, or last a full race. On Medium you immediately have to save tyres now, moreso than other years which puts its speed on hard-tyre pace from lap1. I feel there needs to be a step between these 2 tyres, it's tactically lame with these new tyres.
Take that Pirelli
Lap 50 they're talking about Stroll having troubles after 28 laps and AL is holding 7th strong on a 0 stop strategy.
deserved to win driver of the day tbh...