Red Bull Racing driver Alex Albon says seventh place finish in the Turkish Grand Prix was 'tough to take'

Bures-raised Alex Albon was left to reflect on what could have been after an eventful Turkish Grand Prix saw him finish seventh.

For the former Nayland and Ipswich schoolboy it saw him return to the top 10 points positions for the first time in four Formula One rounds – with outside talk about his future with the Red Bull Racing having ramped up.

But for the 2019 FIA Rookie of the Year it could have been much better, with a spin on lap 34 on a treacherous Istanbul Park surface coming as he chased down second-placed Racing Point driver Sergio Perez.

Having qualified in fourth, the former Littlegarth School and Ipswich School pupil, reflecting on the race for sixth-placed team-mate Max Vertsappen and himself, said: “I have mixed feelings as everything was going to plan and it looked like we were on for the win but it was a strange race and finishing seventh is definitely confusing.

“We have been so competitive all weekend so today is a tough one to take.

“Both of us had poor starts but we picked our way through the field and when we pitted for inters, we had incredible grip and we were so quick.

“The pace was really strong but then we boxed for a second set of inters and we had no grip and no pace so there’s a bit of head scratching.

“It’s hard to understand but we’ll sit down and understand it as these conditions were so unusual.

“This weekend has been going really well, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made and some things on my side of the garage have definitely helped so I can’t wait to get out there in Bahrain and get going again.”

Albon has a week’s break to gear up for the 2020 season-ending race at the Bahrain International Circuit.

His six points from Turkey leave him in ninth place in the drivers’ standings with 70 points, having reduced the gap to the non-scoring McLaren duo of Lando Norris (74) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (75) above him in eighth and seventh.

Team principal Christian Horner felt how events unfolded for both their drivers led to a disappointing landmark 300th race for the team.

“In conditions that we felt strong in all weekend we fell short in an incredibly challenging race,” he said.

“We were able to get the jump on Seb after the first pit stop, giving Max track position and enabling him to close up and attack Sergio.

“Max struggled to make a move without DRS at that stage of the race and got too close to Sergio in his wake and had a spin.

“We were then forced to pit him for new intermediate tyres putting him on the back foot and well down the order.

“Alex then took on the challenge and was quicker than the two Racing Points ahead before also experiencing tyre issues and a spin which saw us pit him earlier than we would have liked and from there on both drivers were well down the order.

“Sixth and seventh are disappointing positions to end our 300th race at a weekend that held so much promise but congratulations must go to Lewis (Hamilton) for achieving his record equalling seventh world title in truly impressive style out there today.”

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