Alex Albon reveals bitterness at missing out on easy pickings after Carlos Sainz heroics

Alex Albon has expressed frustration at himself after witnessing
what might have been given the heroics of Williams team-mate Carlos
Sainz in Azerbaijan. Albon went into the race on a run of scoring
points in 11 of the 13 grands prix in which he had seen the
chequered flag this season, and with the Baku City Circuit expected
to yield a strong haul for the Grove-based team. The Thai-British
driver, however, wrecked his hopes of another top-10 finish when he
uncharacteristically clipped a barrier on the inside of Turn 1,
breaking the front-left suspension on his car, leading to him
starting on the back row of the grid. Albon could only muster 13th
at the line, with his scruffy weekend underlined when he tangled
with Alpine's Franco Colapinto at one stage, earning a 10-second
time penalty for causing a collision. Now in his fourth season with
Williams, Albon has still to score a podium. In stark contrast,
despite what has been a difficult year for Sainz since his move
from Ferrari, the Spanish driver scored the team's first top-three
finish in a full race for eight years. "Firstly, I'm really happy
for Carlos," said Albon, speaking to the media, including
RacingNews365 . "He drove a very solid weekend from qualifying to
the race. He was mistake-free, which, with the weather and the
conditions, was not easy. "And the car was quick. I'm frustrated at
myself because I haven't scored points in a weekend when it was
maybe the easiest of them to score points, but it happens.  "At the
same time, it's great for the constructors' championship with the
points Carlos scored, and great for himself as well. "He's always
been extremely quick, but he's been unfortunate, so good to get it.
It's good to shake off the bad luck, so good for him." Albon's
frustration was amplified by the fact that he knew he had a quick
car underneath him all weekend, particularly during the race, but
he was unable to make it count. "I think we must have been one of
the only cars that could just about get away with overtaking other
cars in DRS trains," remarked Albon. "We had the pace to do it. We
obviously were quick on track. Rightfully so, a lot of the midfield
cars reacted to me pitting, and would try to cover me immediately
out of the pit lane. "It then got a bit scrappy with Franco – my
fault – but when we did have clean air, which was maybe for 10 laps
of the race, we were quick. We just didn't really ever get there.
"Obviously, the damage was done in qualifying."