Alex Albon just missed out on a Top 10 finish at the Circuit of Americas after a battling performance in Texas.

Heading into the American leg of the season, as 2022 nears its conclusion - Alex headed to the Circuit of the Americas for Round 19 of the Formula One World Championship.

The soaking wet races in Asia were replaced by scorching weather throughout the weekend, as Alex worked through the Pirelli test programme on Friday.

Qualifying saw Alex save his best lap for last in Q1, delivering a great lap to haul himself into the second part of Qualifying in his FW44.

The Thai racer started strongly in Q2, running P11 early on as he headed into the final run. Alex improved his time but was denied a Top-10 and a spot in Q3 by just 0.020s at the end of the session!

After grid penalties were applied to Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso ahead, Alex would start the US Grand Prix from P8 on the grid.

Alex held P9 after the start, running the Medium compound tyres in his first stint - swapping them for a fresh set just before the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 18.
The team took the chance to pit Alex for the Hard compound for an extended stint, re-joining in P14 for the restart.

However the race was quickly back behind the Safety Car, following a huge crash on the back straight between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso left debris spread all over the circuit.

Alex emerged in a battle with Daniel Ricciardo for a points paying position - eventually making a move stick past the Aussie around the outside on Lap 31.
Into the closing stages, Alex was nursing his aging Hard tyres to the end of the race - trying to defend until the finish in a points position.

Despite his best efforts, Alex was unable to resist the fresher tyres of his rivals, crossing the line in P12 at the chequered flag.

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Alex Albon, Williams Racing Driver #23:

“We really fought today and gave it everything we had! I had a tricky start with a flat spot into Turn 1, nursing the fronts for the first 10 laps with huge vibrations, so we had to pit early but then we were offset."

“It was a shame, but I don’t think we had the pace for points today, but we were very close. It was tricky out there and we tried our best and were aggressive on strategy but with the tyre degradation, I was hoping to try repeat something like in Spa and hold them off but the tyres took another step of degradation and once this happened, I tried to fight but just couldn’t hold them off anymore."

“Points might have been too much to ask for but we gave ourselves a good opportunity.”

Alex will have another chance next week at the Mexico Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on the 28-30 October.