Albon hails 'amazing day' in Oz as long stint bet pays off

Alex Albon unexpectedly delivered its first point of the 2022 season to the Williams team thanks to a colossal 57-lap stint on the hard tyre in the Australian Grand Prix.

A combination of a three-place grid drop inherited from Jeddah and a technical infringement by the Williams team in qualifying guaranteed Albon a back row start in Sunday's race in Melbourne.

The Anglo-Thai racer and his team had little hope of making significant ground, which encouraged Albon to opt for an alternate strategy based on a long first stint on the hard tyre.

The Williams logically moved up the order during the first window of pitstops and even entered the top-ten following a Safety Car period.

He further extended the life of his hard rubber when he remained on track after the activation of a VSC, which pushed him all the way up to P7.

Fending off a train of cars led by Alpine's Esteban Ocon thanks to DRS, Albon surprisingly held his own until the penultimate lap when he pitted for a set of softs and salvaged a miraculous tenth place finish.

"It just got better and better and by the end of it, it felt like qualifying laps for the last 25 laps of the race," Albon told the media as he described his afternoon.

"Obviously it's completely unexpected, but it really highlights all the work that's been done at the factory and here at the track.

"That's what determination and motivation - that's where it gets you.

"It's been an amazing day and I'm glad I could get this result for the team."

• 2022 Australian Grand Prix - Race results

Albon admitted that during the VSC period triggered by Max Verstappen's retirement he feared he would be eventually overhauled by a pack of cars in front of him that had pitted for fresh rubber.

But the Williams driver's pace was ultimately enough to keep him among the top-ten at the end of the day despite his late stop.

"I thought, 'Okay well they know something I don't'," he said.

"One of the Haas' boxed in front of me and that was my point where I thought, 'Okay it's going to be a tricky race now', because that DRS was saving me from being overtaken from the pack behind.

"But once we got clear air we just went, we were on much older tyres than the guys around us and we were keeping pace more or less with the McLarens. At the very end pulling away from the Alpines.

"What's interesting is that C2 tyres really suits our car. We almost need to understand why because it's a bit unexpected, clearly this result.

"Maybe we need to qualify, race, do everything on that tyre. Bring in 10 sets for the whole thing!"

Albon said that clinching a point will have done no harm to Williams morale and motivation.

"It's a much needed result," he said. "I feel like when you have a tough start to the season you want to switch that momentum and have positivity with what you're doing.

"It's hard when you don't get good results, it is a tough time but it motivates me, it motivates the team to get that point on the board and now we're hungry for more."

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