Alex Albon: Williams struggle in hot temperatures

Albon got the event underway impressively, securing the second-fastest time in the first practice session, coming within a mere 0.095 seconds of the eventual race winner, Max Verstappen. However, Albon's fortunes took a dip as he finished only 14th in FP2.

In the final practice session, Albon once again challenged the lead Red Bull, finishing second, just 0.07 seconds behind Verstappen. 

Nevertheless, this strong showing in practice didn't translate to qualifying, where Albon ended up in 14th place on the grid. However, he managed to recover during the race, securing two points with a ninth-place finish.

Albon explained that the key factor contributing to these performance fluctuations was the track temperature. The asphalt temperature ranged from 52 degrees Celsius at the start of the race, gradually dropping to 45 degrees. 

In contrast, it was 44 degrees in the FP3 session and then rose to 47 degrees for the commencement of qualifying.

"I was surprised, the pace [in the race] was not that strong. It was OK," said Albon.

"I think a lot of that just comes down to the temperature of the day, the track was hot just like qualifying. We struggled when the track gets hot.

"So, there was a lot of management and in the race, I was having to manage too much to make the tyres last and that was affecting the lap time."

He added: "Purely the tyres and the temperature. We know we have quite a sensitive car.

"We know we slide around a little bit more than other cars, which means when it gets hot, it creates a bit more temperature.

"The race is a bit easier because everyone is managing. Obviously in a short run, if you're managing, you're just going to be slow. So, we had the same problem as qualifying, but we made it work."

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