Albon "finally" had no contact with Hamilton on his way to the podium

Alexander Albon has achieved his very first podium in Formula 1 and that will come as a great relief. Albon had been saying for weeks that he wasn't listening to the criticism, but after the race, he went on to say 'thank you' to his team for maintaining confidence in him.

It is not easy for Alexander Albon. The Thai was selected last-minute by Toro Rosso to make his debut in Formula 1 in 2019 and he did so well that Red Bull Racing got him in mid-season as a replacement for Pierre Gasly.

"In a top team you have to perform at the top and Albon didn't always succeed in that. His speed often wasn't close to Verstappen and he was often unlucky at promising moments. ''Finally, a drive to the podium was not ended by contact with Lewis Hamilton," says Jolyon Palmer in the podcast Chequered Flag about the earlier collisions in Austria and Brazil.

Now that Albon has his first podium in his pocket, that might also give him a lot of confidence. Jolyon hopes so too and foresees a big step from Albon. ''I hope to see an Albon with a lot more confidence because he did really well this weekend'', the former Renault rider concludes.