Formula 1 World Championship 2025, Round 7, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy, Sunday 18 May 2025 - Alexander Albon (THA) Atlassian Williams Racing FW47.

Albon's top 5 at Imola not a matter of luck, but of his 'killer' intuition

20:06, 21 May

Updated: 23:03, 21 May

byNorberto Mujica

Alexander Albon racked up another top 5 result, confirming Williams' speed at Miami. However at Imola, the Thai driver had to make use of his intuition to maximise the Grove-based team's potential.

Did he know even before the Virtual Safety Car that the team's decisions to split strategy had tipped the race in his favor, over teammate Carlos Sainz'?

"Yeah, I think being the car behind at the start of the race, I didn't need to push, I just waited," sad Albon to media like GPblog of his approach at the start of the race.

Formula 1 World Championship 2025, Round 7, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy, Sunday 18 May 2025 - Alexander Albon (THA) Atlassian Williams Racing FW47.

Albon's intuition helped Williams pip surrounding rivals at Imola

It went better for him than for Mercedes driver George Russell, noticed a perceptive Albon.

"George degged [ had tyre degradation] a lot at the beginning there and he kind of backed everyone up a little bit and I could see all the cars in front sliding around a lot so I was just staying put."

"I knew that the amount that George was sliding, there were gonna be cars in front who would have to convert to a two-stop."

As the cars ahead all pitted for fresh rubber, Albon then capitalised on the circumstances he, via his tyre management, had created for himself.

"And so once they all started to drop in, I thought, 'okay, maybe I can extend this'. I didn't expect to fully be able to pull off a one-stop, but we were going to quite successfully, so," concluded the Thai driver.