Alex Albon had just switched to dry tyres, while Charles Leclerc had chosen the intermediates, and the Williams driver was convinced he had more pace, so he was reluctant to let the Ferrari pass.
After a radio conversation about switching to slicks early on lap 18, Albon became the second driver to make the switch, after Mick Schumacher had done so a lap earlier.
However, he was surprised to be given the hard tyre, letting his team know over the radio as he left the pits: “I didn’t think we were going to go hard. Why are we going hard?” .
When they told him it was because of the mileage, he replied, “No mate, we’ve already talked about this.”
Leclerc had stopped to put on the intermissions at the same time and, after leaving the pits, he wanted to close the door on Albon in the direction of the casino square. However, the Williams driver did not back away and did not allow himself to be doubled either, prompting the frustrated Ferrari driver to yell “Come on, what the f***!” later on that same lap.
Leclerc eventually overtook the Williams when Albon locked his tires and went straight at Santa Devota, having stayed ahead of the Monegasque for nearly a lap.
Albon commented that he had been distracted by a radio message, asking him to respect the blue flags.
Leclerc lost crucial time, and during the entire sequence of pit stops, as the drivers ditched the wet tires for dry ones, he dropped from the lead to fourth place.
After the race, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto questioned why neither Alexander Albon nor Nicholas Latifi, who similarly to his teammate ran several corners ahead of Carlos Sainz without letting him pass, had been penalized.
Asked why he hadn’t pulled away earlier, Albon insisted he felt he had enough pace to stay ahead of Leclerc on dry tyres, perhaps not yet aware that the Ferrari was no longer on extreme rain tyres. but the intermediate ones.
“It’s tricky because basically we came out on dry tires and we had a big pace advantage,” he said. “But it would have taken three corners to let him pass and then immediately I would have been quick enough to overtake him again.
“And I think, in my opinion, it was faster for both of us if I had stayed in front, because I would have gotten away from him almost immediately. So that’s what happened. It’s one of those weird situations.
“But in my opinion, it was a bit like if we let him go straight through, we were going to overtake him again.”
Albon informed the team that he had flattened all four tires under the brakes at Santa Devota, and then a rear puncture meant he had to change medium tires just four laps after his first stop, giving him he dropped the rear of the group.
Later, he would receive a five-second time penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage over Mick Schumacher .
Albon then lost a lot of time on the restart after the red flag caused by Schumacher’s accident, when he was able to split but was unable to catch up with the pack. He eventually retired after 48 laps with an unspecified problem at the front of the car that triggered porpoising .
“Complicated”, was how the Williams driver defined his career. “Getting the brakes in the right window was very tricky today. We had decent pace in the clean air. And then we had some trouble on the front of the car towards the end. So we had to pit the car, so you know, bad.”
“I think overall, as a weekend, it would have been very difficult to score points. But I felt we were much closer to the middle ground, and overall it was a positive weekend.
“Honestly, our pace was good. And I wasn’t just driving like it was qualifying, I was managing everything and feeling strong with the car.
“As gloomy as today has been, or the result, I think it has been a step forward for us.”
Regarding the next race in Baku , Albon also wanted to leave his opinion: “I think it will be good for us. I think we are fast on the straights, and we are good in the low speed corners, maybe not as fast as others, but in relationship with our rivals. So you never know”.
“Of course, we are still waiting for the updates [to arrive], so until Silverstone arrives it will be a bit of time. But I am hopeful.”
