Albon has his say on the Leclerc battle in Imola: "I would have done the same in that position"

09:32, 19 May

byOlly Darcy

Williams driver Alex Albon says he "would have done the same in his position," while speaking about the incident he had with Charles Leclerc at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

The Thai-British driver was looking for a move on the Ferrari driver in the final few laps of the race around Imola to get up to P4, trying an audacious move around the outside of the Monegasque driver.

Leclerc defended his position and forced Albon out wide, with the Williams driver going off the track and bouncing along the gravel, dropping him down to P6 as Lewis Hamilton went through.

Hamilton got by Leclerc, and then on the final lap of the race, the Ferrari driver was told to let Albon by as a result of being under investigation for the incident, meaning the Thai-British driver took a fine P5 and ten points.

Back-to-back P5 finishes for Albon means he now sits P8 in the championship on 40 points, eight behind Kimi Antonelli

Albon "very happy" with his performance at Imola

Speaking in the paddock to several media sources, including GPblog, Albon had his say on the incident that ended the race.

"I do think, each way you look at it, P4 was possible today," the Wiliams driver said. "If a safety car didn't come out at the end, that was a P4. If you take out Charles' incident, that was also a P4. I'm not going to say I'm disappointed with P5, and honestly, when I look at the battle with Charles, I would have done the same in his position. I don't think he did anything that crazy. It's just someone trying to hold their position, and obviously, I just lost out to Lewis.

"Just thinking about it, it could have been better, being a bit more patient with Charles and seeing if I can get him a little bit later. But at that point in the race, honestly, I was feeling so good, I thought Oscar was up ahead on warm tyres, I could go after him and maybe get a P3. So yeah, still very happy with the race.

"Even in pure pace, we were in P4 and P5 today. We were able to extend the first stint very strongly, and that kind of set us up for the whole race. The VSC obviously was in our favour, but at the same time, everyone else was pretty much stuck on the two-stop. We were pretty comfortable in the one-stop, so we were looking really good," continued an optimistic Albon.

Williams' pace at the start of the season a surprise

It's been an impressive start to the season for Williams, clearly showing the pace to be the best of the rest for the 2025 season, something that has been a surprise to Albon.

"Yeah, I have been," the 29-year-old said when asked if he had been surprised by the pace his car has shown to start 2025.

"Maybe I'm more pessimistic. I think James was a bit more optimistic about it. In the simulator, it's been better when I think about all the work we were doing last year. What's been interesting is that a lot of the balance has come together a lot more. You're just starting to get this feeling where there's clearly a downforce gain, but there's also a drivability balance gain, which has made it easier to drive better, gives you more confidence, and you're less limited in terms of setup of what you can do with the car.

"I've said it a few times about being boxed in with a car, and only certain tracks suit us. Now, so many different tracks now and we've been in the points pretty much every single time, apart from one set. It's working well, and that's a good sign of a good DNA with the car. We've seen a lot of teams this weekend bringing upgrades, and they’ve definitely caught up. But we're still holding our own. We're not starting to feel like they're overtaking us. They are going to learn their upgrades, and they might eventually get a bit tighter. But for now, I'm very happy," concluded a smiling Albon.