'It was more than I expected' – 'Super happy' Albon praises 'monumental' Williams upgrades after P7 finish in Canada

Alex Albon described his run to a season-high seventh place at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix as both “super” and “stressful” – with the Thai racer also heaping praise on his Williams team for their "monumental" upgrades and performance in Montreal.

The Williams driver started the race from ninth on the grid – after gaining a place from Carlos Sainz’s three-place grid drop for impeding in qualifying – but lost a place off the line to the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, dropping him to 10th.

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Albon then made his one – and only – pit stop of the day on Lap 12, switching from the medium tyre to the hards. He then gained track position on his rivals, with others opting to make a second stop, which saw Albon ascend up to sixth place.

Albon eventually dropped to P7 when the Red Bull of Sergio Perez came steaming past him. However, he was able hold off the challenge of the likes of George Russell, Esteban Ocon, and Lando Norris late on in the proceedings, sealing his second top-10 finish of the season.

When asked if he was pleased with the result, Albon responded: “It was great. It was super. It was more than I expected of course. It was stressful as well I have to say. I don’t enjoy those races, but the team love putting me in those situations!

“It was good. There was a point in the race when we were on those tyres, and they told me you’ve got 40 laps to do the rest of the race and I thought 'you guys are crazy'. But we made it last.

“Obviously, the closing speed of the cars behind was quite big so I didn’t think I would be able to hold them off. George looked like he ran into some brake issues, and Esteban didn’t have the straight-line speed to get past us.

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“It worked in our favour. We know we have a slippery car. The cool track I think just helped keep my tyres alive long enough and good enough for them not to be able to overtake me. I’m super happy.”

Williams brought a major upgrade package to Montreal, with only Albon running the new updates on his car, as Logan Sargeant ran the older spec. And Albon was full of praise for his team’s efforts, with this result seeing them leapfrog AlphaTauri for ninth in the championship.

“I have to say the work that’s been done at the factory to get this upgrade ready has been monumental,” said Albon. “We knew this track would suit us and we did put a lot into this weekend; we really put our eggs into one basket, and it’s great to pay off.

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“We are fighting the AlphaTauris in the championship and they are very consistent, dangerously consistent. But luckily for us, and unfortunately for them they are kind of in the P11 area.

“So, to get these points on the board I believe puts us up to ninth now. For now, we need to continue with that. The upgrade is working well, so let’s see.”