The Monaco Grand Prix is the only race that can be the most interesting and the most tedious event on the Formula 1 calendar at the same time.
The race on Sunday lived up to that billing with the first lap full of chaos and bringing out the red flag and the following 77 laps filled with very little action.
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Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm suggests that Williams driver Alex Albon found one star’s driving during the race ‘ridiculous’.
It’s been a very difficult season for Williams but they finally lifted themselves off the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship thanks to Albon’s 9-place finish on the streets of Monte Carlo.
However, Albon may feel he could have scored more points in Monaco were it not for RB driver Yuki Tsunoda.
In a race where everyone was managing their pace and tyres to avoid having to pit, the Japanese driver – who has 80 career points in Formula 1 – took that instruction to extreme levels.
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Alex Albon frustrated with ‘ridiculous’ Yuki Tsunoda at the Monaco Grand Prix
Qualifying on the streets of Monte Carlo is essential and Williams, RB and Alpine knew that they each had a car fighting for the best position possible in Q3.
Pierre Gasly started 10 after his best Saturday of the season, but Tsunoda just pipped Albon to a spot on the fourth row of the grid in Monaco.
That led to a rare sight on the F1 timings screens towards the end of the race with both drivers aiming not to stop having changed their tyres during the red flag.
Tsunoda was supposedly chasing down Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton for 7 place but by the time they took the chequered flag, it was hard to argue that he’d had a real go at doing so.
Hamilton finished 14 seconds behind eventual winner Charles Leclerc while Yuki Tsunoda had been lapped by the Brit by the time he finished the race.
The Japanese driver added four more points to his tally as a result and extended his lead over Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the Drivers’ Championship.
Albon jumped to 15 in the standings, leapfrogging Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen.
However, Albon struggled to hide his frustration with Tsunoda after the race in Monaco as he simply couldn’t find a way past the RB driver.
In the end, he dropped off the back of his car, presumably because he was sick of the sight of the V-CARB rear wing.
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Alex Albon endured 78 laps of frustration on the streets of Monte Carlo
Talking about their battle, Mitchell-Malm said: “He didn’t endear himself to [Alex] Albon with the amount of pace management he was doing in the race.
“Have you had a chance to hear what Albon had to say afterwards?
“He thought it was a bit excessive, but not in like a particularly overly irate way because I don’t think Albon does that.
“But basically over the course of, I don’t know how long the answer was, let’s say a 60 or 70-second answer, there were at least three occasions where Albon attempted to stop himself and move on and then went back to how ridiculous Yuki’s [Tsunoda] excessive pace management was.
“Albon said at one point he felt he could have got out, hopped on his Vespa and gone quicker.”
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Speaking on the official Formula 1 YouTube channel after the race, Albon said: “I mean, I think it was maybe a bit of a boring one!
“I wish I had a nicer race, a more fun race to say how we scored our first points, but I’ll take that.
“P9 is great for us and puts us on the board.”
Albon has been consistently quicker than teammate Logan Sargeant all season, although it would be harsh to criticise the American driver after the race in Monaco.
He had a car fitted with one of last year’s rear wings because they only had one available for the weekend and Albon also had other upgrades on his car.
However, there is still a significant difference between their raw pace and if anyone is going to score points for the team this season, it’s going to be Albon.
The post ‘Bit excessive’: Journalist says Alex Albon couldn’t get over how ‘ridiculous’ 80-point driver was in Monaco appeared first on F1 Oversteer.