Albon felt the car was a "bit quicker than fifth" after qualifying in P5

Alex Albon admits he was happy to qualify in fifth-place for the Mexican Grand Prix but couldn't hide that he felt the car's pace warranted a better result. Teammate Max Verstappen originally qualified on pole but after ignoring a yellow flag was pushed down to P4.

The 23-year-old is currently eighth in the drivers' standings with four races and can realistically reach as high as sixth, with just a 12 point gap between him and McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

The Thai driver moved up to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing earlier in the season due to a lack of form by Pierre Gasly and the Frenchman now holds just a point advantage over Albon.

"Obviously I think the car was a bit quicker than fifth, so I'm a bit disappointed, but after FP2 and the rain in FP3, I kind of started from FP1, Albon told Sky Sports.

"I think sometimes it happens quite a lot, not just here but in general, the tyres as well, you know where you need to improve so you do it in the second run and then the tyres get too hot and it's just one of them things."