Why Alex Albon Couldn’t Help but Impede Charles Leclerc’s Race at Monaco GP

Alex Albon had arguably the worst race of his comeback season at the Monaco Grand Prix. He raced behind his teammate and eventually retired from the race after a dismal display. He did have a sketchy moment in the race when he held up hometown hero Charles Leclerc.

Albon was running at the back of the field and was shown blue flags as he was about to be lapped by Leclerc. But he let the Monegasque driver through a bit later, which cost the Ferrari driver the chance of close into Verstappen at the front.

Alex Albon explains the Charles Leclerc incident in the Monaco GP

The Williams driver explained he could not really move to let Charles by the first time. He revealed he was on fresher tires compared to Leclerc and would have got him again a couple of turns later if he had let him go through.

Charles was a bit frustrated by Albon and vented his frustration. “Come on, Alex. What the f**k?” said Leclerc.

“It’s tricky because we started on slicks and we had a big pace advantage. It would have taken me three corners to let him pass and then I would have been quick enough to pass him again,” said Alex.

“You get into a position where, in my eyes, for both of us, it was faster if I stayed ahead because I would have come off almost straight away. So that’s really it. It’s a tricky situation, but in my eyes, if we let him pass, we were going to pass him directly,” said the Williams driver.

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Despite retiring from the race, the Thai driver stated he had a good pace in the car during the race. The former Red Bull driver mentioned he had the pace to fight for much more.

The Williams driver analyzes his Monaco GP performance

Alex was one of the first drivers to change tires and go to slicks on a slippery track. He was at one point the fastest driver on the track and was setting the timing charts alight. He mentioned had he not had so many problems, he would have fought with the midfield.

“Honestly, our pace was quite good, and I wasn’t just driving like in qualifying. I was managing everything, and I felt strong with the car. So we have some positives and we know the race pace is a positive for us. So, however bleak the day or the result was, I think it’s a step up for us,” said the Thai driver.

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It would have been interesting to see how Albon would have performed had he not retired. But it was a dismal weekend for him that he would surely like to forget. Since we have another street circuit around the corner, how do you think Albon will fare at Baku?