Report: 0.2s shy of the points in São Paulo after late charge

A tight battle for the points late on, but Alex just misses out with P11 finish in Brazil

Published

09 NOV 2025

Est. reading time

3 min

Alex Albon came agonisingly close to scoring points at the São Paulo Grand Prix, finishing just 0.2 seconds outside the top ten after a determined late charge around Interlagos.

Starting from P12, Alex made immediate progress when the lights went out, passing Nico Hulkenberg on the opening lap before a Safety Car was deployed after Gabriel Bortoleto’s home race ended in the barrier.

When racing resumed, Alex continued his climb, overtaking Fernando Alonso and moving into the top ten when a Virtual Safety Car briefly neutralised proceedings after Charles Leclerc retired following contact.

Through the opening stint, Alex managed his tyres well while running in a close DRS train behind Pierre Gasly and ahead of Carlos Sainz. With several rivals pitting early, he rose as high as fifth place, extending his first stint longer than most of the midfield.

Calls were made for a “Plan C” strategy, but Alex voiced concern about the tyre life required to make it work.

He eventually boxed on lap 35 to ditch his 41-lap-old medium tyres, switching to a used set of softs before later bolting on fresh mediums for the final stint.

That set up a strong closing phase – rejoining some 19 seconds away from the top ten, Alex began picking off cars ahead.

He made bold moves on Franco Colapinto and Alonso on the same tour, even setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.

With ten laps remaining, the Williams driver was reeling in Esteban Ocon at pace, but the Frenchman made a move on Carlos Sainz. His teammate, knowing the race at stake, quickly let Alex through – a move that earned a “thank you” over the radio.

On the penultimate lap, Alex had caught the train stretching all the way up to P7. With the freshest tyres in the group, he climbed to P11 with a clean move on Ocon and closed right onto Gasly’s gearbox on the final lap.

He attempted a move around the outside through the infield but was forced wide after light contact, ultimately taking the chequered flag a tantalising 0.270 seconds behind the Alpine.

Alex leaves São Paulo without adding to his points tally, after having his Sprint ended while running P10 when debris from Bortoleto’s heavy crash brought his Saturday to an abrupt close.

That said, today’s P11 marks Alex’s best result in Brazil, and he heads into the final three rounds with a career-first fastest lap in the pocket.

"It was a good race for the fans today but unfortunately for us it was a bit of a race to forget," Alex shared post-race.

"We had good pace when we could show it. We've struggled with pace all weekend but seem to have recovered a little bit today.

"In the end what took us out of contention for points was that I think we stayed out too long on the first stint and we never really recovered from there.

"In the last stint we were quick and were fighting our way back up the grid and just missed out on a point at the end.

"It's frustrating that our rivals scored points today, but we will regroup and look forward to a better weekend in Las Vegas."