Alex Secures Sixth in Sakhir Grand Prix
Alex Albon came home in sixth position following a frustrating race at the Sakhir Grand Prix for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.
Formula One heading back to Bahrain, but this time on the unique and much shorter 'Outer Circuit'.
Alex acclimitised well on Friday, setting the 3rd and 5th fastest times in Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 especially.
Qualifying Saturday however saw a much different picture, as Alex struggled on the Soft compound tyres which affected his lap time.
Alex endured a difficult session, finishing P12 in Q2 - meaning he would line-up on row 6 for the 87-lap Sakhir Grand Prix on Sunday.
A chaotic start saw Charles Leclerc and Alex's Aston Martin Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen taken out - bringing out the Safety Car. Alex also survived first lap contact to stay in the race.
Alex was running in P12 and struggled to make progress stuck in a 'DRS Train', before he came in for his first pitstop to move onto the Hard compound tyre as he duelled with Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel through most of the second stint.
Following a late race Safety Car, the team pitted Alex for the Soft tyre - which he used effectively to the move back through the field to cross the line in P6, banking some solid points in what he regarded as a 'scrappy race' in Sakhir.
Alexander Albon (Car 23):
“It was a very strange and scrappy race and I’m not really sure how it all unfolded but climbing from 12th to sixth isn’t too bad but we hoped for more today.
We expected to be slow on the straights and we only just about to managed to stay with the other cars when we had DRS but it was so hard to overtake and I was having to dive bomb into Turn One to get the moves made.
It was very hard to race with the configuration of downforce we had, and we were quick in parts of the track like sector two where you just can’t overtake.
Now it’s full focus on Abu Dhabi in a few days’ time.”
Alex heads to Yas Marina for the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the 11-13 December, rounding out his second season in Formula One.
Press Release Content: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing
Media Content: Red Bull Content Pool