Albon had 'flashbacks' to past F1 clashes with Mugello overtakes

Alexander Albon has admitted he had ‘flashbacks’ to previous incidents which took him out of Formula 1 podium contention while overtaking Daniel Ricciardo for third place at the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Albon finally scored his maiden podium in Formula 1, ultimately benefiting from team-mate Max Verstappen’s retirement in the early stages.

The Thai driver had been running behind the Renault of Ricciardo for much of the race, but managed to get back ahead of him following the third standing start in the closing laps of the race with a daring move around the outside of Turn 1.

“It was tricky out there,” Albon said. “We had to work for it. It was nice to finally get that podium, under the circumstances as well. We weren’t good off the line, so a lot of the overtakes had to come on track.

“When you lose positions at the start, you always feel it will be more hard work, but you never doubt you can get back up there. The first stint, I used a lot of my tyres to overtake, I think, two cars.

“On the mediums, we were strong, so I knew the pace was there, but I was a bit afraid with another red flag as I was happy to be in that position. The Renault was strong at starts, Racing Point, too. It fired me up when we lost another position off the start, but I knew we had the pace.

“It was more about patience during the race, and making sure you don’t use the tyres too early so you had something for overtakes later on.”

Albon has been involved in two costly collisions with Lewis Hamilton while running in the podium places during his time with Red Bull - one at the Brazilian Grand Prix last year and another at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, which arguably cost him the race victory.

Reflecting on his ballsy move on Ricciardo, Albon admitted he had ‘flashbacks’ to previous clashes.

“We have been good in the last corner, good in the last sector, this weekend which is good on a circuit where there is only one place to overtake - at Turn 1,” Albon added. “I didn’t catch the Renault’s as much as I thought, so it was a last minute dive on the outside.

“Of course I was a little worried, but I left enough space. When you send it round the outside, you’re hopeful, and you have flashbacks to previous times when fighting for podiums, but we managed to get through unscathed.”