A pricey Grand Prix penalty: Russell's expensive dinner treat for Albon

13:19, 29 May

Updated: 14:05, 29 May

byOlly Darcy

After the Monaco Grand Prix, Alex Albon treated George Russell to dinner after their incident during the race. However, although the Mercedes driver earned a penalty and Albon finished in the points, it was he who had the last laugh.

Around the streets of Monte Carlo, Russell was stuck behind his good friend Albon, with the Thai-British driver going slowly to give teammate Carlos Sainz a gap to make one of his two mandatory pit stops.

It resulted in the Mercedes driver cutting the Nouvelle Chicane to get passed the Williams, allowing him to race in free air and at full pace.

However, the cutting on the chicane meant he was given a drive-through penalty by the stewards, ending his slim chance of potentially getting points after starting in P14.

Russell after just cutting the chicane to get past Albon in the Williams behind

Albon picks up a hefty dinner bill

After the Grand Prix, Albon said that he would treat Russell to a dinner in the Principality, which he did, making a joke on social media beforehand that he would take the Brit to a 'drive-thru', referencing the penalty the Mercedes driver was given.

However, it was Russell who was able to get one over on Albon on Sunday night in Monaco.

"The dinner was great," the 29-year-old said to several media sources at the Spanish Grand Prix, including GPblog.

"However, he ordered the most expensive thing on the menu! He did, actually. It was the lobster pasta. But he skipped on dessert, so it kind of equalled out. But it was good. It was good. It was a fun evening."

"I was going to pay. I mean, I should pay. That was miserable, that race, and I imagine that we had something to pay in it, so at least it felt like we had something going. But obviously, for the others, it was a bit worse," continued the Williams driver.

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But what do F1 drivers talk about during dinner right after a Grand Prix?

"Honestly, there's very little talk about racing. I think there's not much talk about racing outside of the racing. So yeah, not too much.

"It seems tricky to know actually what to really do to improve some of that racing that we saw," continued the Thai-British driver on the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.

"I do think it was worth a try, and I think collectively, all of us, teams and drivers, we thought the two stops should create something. But, obviously, it just moved the goalposts a little bit, so we need to have a bit of another reconsideration of what we can do to improve some of the racing here," Albon concluded.