Alex Albon became the first Thai driver to stand on a Formula One podium after he swept past Daniel Ricciardo late on to finish third behind Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the Tuscan Grand Prix on Sunday.
A. Albon said: “Yeah, it was good! Obviously a while to get here, and it was a tough one as well, we had to work for it. I can breathe – it’s good to be here!”
The race saw Aston Martin Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen and last week’s winner Pierre Gasly crash out on the first lap, then two red flags mix the order up before Albon held his nerve late on to the joy of the garage as Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Russian driver Daniil Kvyat ended in an impressive seventh.
“It’s all a bit of a daze, like three races in one day! This track is phenomenal – all those restarts, total focus was needed at all times, it was really hard.”, said L. Hamilton.
Meanwhile his teammate V. Bottas wasn’t so happy: “It’s disappointing because it was a dream start for me. I managed to hold pole position at the safety car restart. But once I lost the lead at the second start…that’s how it goes.”
