Albon at odds with Williams, explains testy radio messages

Alex Albon put his foot down in last Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, on the track but also on the radio with his Williams team following a disagreement with his race engineer during the event.

The Thai-British racer questioned his team's call to push at one point in the race while he later found himself at odds with the Williams pitwall when he was asked to manage his rubber and felt that he should do the opposite.

Albon launched his race from P11 after a strong qualifying session on Saturday, but struggled to hold his own just outside the top ten after his switch from the medium to the hard tyre on lap 22.

In a race in which every driver reached the checkered flag, Albon had to settle for 14th at the end of the day. The 27-year-old explained his testy radio exchanges with his team.

"I think at the time I got told to manage the tyres we weren't catching the cars in front," he said.

"So it was either try and not manage and try and catch the cars and overtake them, or just stay at the back.

"I'd rather be aggressive and then suffer the consequences later than never try and just finish last. So that was why I think I said I don't really agree with it.

"But then at the same time, we wanted to push very hard in the first few laps with the tyre, and it was making the tyre grain up. So I didn't agree with that either. So a bit of everything."

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Despite his strong qualifying performance, Albon said his unhappy race result was a reflection of the true pace of Williams' FW45.

"It's more just we don't have the pace," he said. "So we're just trying to do different things. And I do think we're the ninth or 10th slowest car, that's the reality of it.

"We're just getting the most out of it most weekends, and on a track where the tyres do get hot there is deg, and it exposes our weaknesses.

"And today was a really clear example that these kinds of circuits don't normally suit us.

"We did a great job in qualifying, and this was our true pace today. So just one of those things. Hopefully, we can go to another circuit that suits us a little bit more."

Albon said that he also faced immense difficulties to overtake in the race due to the FIA's decision – against most of the drivers' recommendations – to the track's shorten DRS zones.

"Particularly frustrating for me, because I was so in the one place where you need to be quick," explained.

"So Turn 7, if you're slow through there you just tend to miss the DRS, and then the car behind you has it.

"So it was bad timing. It was a badly designed DRS zone for our car!

"We were quite vocal about shortening DRS zones all year so far. And they still stuck to their guns on shortening them, and we kind of pre-warned it. It happens, no surprises for anyone.

"I think the show matters. And if everyone's watching these kinds of races, no one's going to be enjoying them. At the same time, we say we can't do things last minute.

"But even in the sprint race, the whole tyre strategy was last minute. So I wonder what is last minute and what's not last minute. I think that point is very dependent on what gets asked!"

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