"A three-tenths gap is normal on a driver like Verstappen''

Alexander Albon isn't lucky to be on his side yet. Last year in Brazil the Thai came into contact with Lewis Hamilton on his way to a podium and now it happened again in Austria. Is it pure bad luck or his own fault?

Brave Albon

For a long time it looked as if Alexander Albon would ride to the podium of the Austrian Grand Prix. Until the Safety Cars, Albon didn't come close to the Mercedes drivers. From the Safety Cars, Albon had an excellent opportunity to fight for victory on red tyres, but that went wrong.

''He could have overtaken Bottas just as easily as Hamilton did. With or without the DRS. It was brave of him to try, but it just went wrong,'' Marc Surer said in his analysis for Motorsport-total.com. According to Surer, Albon continued to perform well.

Bad luck for Albon

''He missed about three tenths on Verstappen in qualifying and that's normal on a driver like Max. He would have liked it to be smaller of course and all in all he won't go back to the hotel. You just have those drivers like Nico Hulkenberg who are unhappy. In any case, let's say Albon hasn't had any luck yet.''

We'll never know whether a successful catch-up action would eventually have yielded the victory. Four laps before the end Albon had a technical problem with the car. Just like Max Verstappen, Albon finished in the pits, which completed a dramatic weekend for Red Bull Racing.