Albon's top-five finish down to Williams strategy execution in Melbourne

Williams racer pleased to have finished fifth in conditions where the team tends to struggle

Alex Albon praised his Williams team for its strategy execution in the mixed-conditions 2025 Formula 1 season opener in Australia, as he finished fifth after a well-timed switch to intermediates.

Although Albon had been gazumped at the start by Charles Leclerc, the Anglo-Thai racer held off Lewis Hamilton's attempts to pass in the early stages and spent much of the race clinging on to seventh place.

Williams' decision to pit Albon for intermediate tyres came just as an intensifying burst of rain had struck the circuit in the final sector, which brought him ahead of the likes of Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda as his immediate rivals took a gamble by staying out on slicks.

However, Albon was unable to contain Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the final act of the race.

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Albon revealed that Williams had spoken before the race about capitalising on chaos in the early rounds of the season, and that the team's decisiveness with strategy had ultimately paid off.

"I think as a team we really executed everything we did today," Albon enthused after scoring Williams' best result in a full-distance grand prix since Lance Stroll took a podium in Baku in 2017.

"First race it's not easy to be dialled in, in terms of strategy and approach to the weekend and we executed everything so well today to get that P4 [before a penalty given to Antonelli was rescinded].

Alex Albon, Williams

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

"It's just a fantastic start and it just shows we made a huge step from last year. These results, P4s, they're not going to come around very many times this year.

"We've talked a lot about capitalising early internally, in trying to make sure that we took advantage of rookie drivers and things like that to get those points quickly."

Albon admitted that he was unsure Williams would be able to compete in the conditions, citing the wind and the proneness of the intermediate tyres to experience thermal degradation.

He suggested that the car was set back in performance by the gusty weather, but that it nonetheless showed great improvement from 2024.

"I back myself in these conditions, I know my limits and I know not to overpush it," Albon explained. "But, at the same time, starting P6, I would have been very happy to finish a P7 when one of the Ferraris got past.

"But to get into the weekend today and get P4, I wouldn't like to have done that race again! I'm glad that it's done. Gusty weather and inter tyres that start overheating generally are not a good combination for us.

"All being honest, I think relative to the RB and the Alpine, we weren't as competitive as we wanted to be. But we were much more competitive than we were last year in those conditions.

"It was nice to know that the pace was still there and I was just risking a little bit more when I knew the pit window was gonna open, and things like that.

"When I pushed I could catch Yuki, no problem, and I was just kind of waiting for him to box or not box and obviously we came in first and did the right call."

Additional reporting by Emily Selleck