Albon: "We knew a little bit that this would happen"

Alexander Albon came through Q1 and Q2 with difficulty, but is still satisfied after his qualification. The Red Bull Racing driver says he had trouble finding the right tow in his last run, but is happy to be closer to Max Verstappen.

"I just got through Q1 and Q2 so it was a hectic one. We knew this was going to happen. We had this problem on other fast circuits like Austria and Spa," Albon opens in an online press release from Red Bull.

According to Albon, there is a 'sweet spot' to drive behind your predecessor so you can grab the perfect slipstream. "But the sweet spot isn’t one second, but it’s two, three, four or five seconds depending on the circuit. That creates that sector two bunch up. We all wanted to advance through so we wanted to create the gap that we want."

Albon says he is happy with his qualification, even though P9 doesn't look very great. "I was just a bit to far away from the Mercedes on my last run. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with it. Obviously it’s so tight up there. P9 doesn’t really look like a good result. But if I compare myself to the other car, it’s a step forward."

In 2022 there will be new rules that will allow the cars to follow each other closer together. Albon doesn't know if that will help in other races at high speed circuits. "I don’t know if that would create even more slipstream," concludes the Thai.