Alexander Albon endured a “tough” Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello that saw him secure his maiden podium result in Formula 1.
The Red Bull driver ended the chaos-filled race in third place, finishing behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
After the opening series of pit stops, Albon was in fifth place but was promoted one spot after Lance Stroll crashed out following a mechanical failure.
A red flag was deployed to clear the mess caused, and following a third standing start of the afternoon, the Thai-British racer settled into fourth before overtaking Daniel Ricciardo for third and cementing his position on the podium.
“It was good, obviously a while to get here” Albon said. “But it was a tough one, we had to work for it. But I’m really happy, it feels nice to be here.
“We just couldn’t get off the line, so most of the overtakes had to be done on the circuit.
“But our car is good on the brakes so we know we can do moves like that. It’s fun to drive.”
With Mugello being one of the most physically demanding tracks on the 2020 calendar, Albon says the load was eased due to the two mid-race stoppages.
“It was surprisingly OK, I was expecting it to be worse,” he stated. “But we did have two red flags so that did help it.
“It’s brutal, especially the high speed in sector two, you feel it. I think there was more adrenaline going into my body than anything else so I’m happy.”
Albon’s teammate Max Verstappen failed to finish the race after he was involved in a collision on the opening lap with multiple cars.
