Albon’s Mugello podium celebrations were ‘tragic’

Alex Albon scored his first podium finish in Formula 1 at the Tuscan Grand Prix, but it’s safe to say his celebrations were rather low key.

The Thai driver was able to relieve a huge amount of pressure that was mounting up on his shoulders with that overtake around the outside of Daniel Ricciardo, earning himself P3 and finally a place on the podium after coming so close twice before until incidents with Lewis Hamilton on both occasions.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that Albon finally went from knowing he could deliver to proving he could at Mugello, so surely he was celebrating wildly into the night?

Actually, he wasn’t. In fact by his own admission the celebrations were “tragic”.

“I had a candlelit dinner for one,” he revealed on the F1 Nation podcast.

“I literally I treated myself to a T-bone steak and a tiramisu, and then I went to bed. It was quite tragic.

“We had to do a filming day at a go kart track on the Monday, so I had to stay over in Italy. I was at the hotel which I was staying in all weekend at Mugello… and I was completely alone. Actually, there was a couple next to me, who didn’t even know me.”

We missed the #SingaporeGP this weekend ❤️🇸🇬 But we've still been having fun on @Formula1game at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with @Citrix 👊 How fast are you? ⏱ #CitrixRemoteWorks pic.twitter.com/BCpycrdUjy

— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 21, 2020

Get your hands on the official Red Bull 2020 collection via the Formula 1 store

But while the after-race activities weren’t quite up to scratch, Albon’s performance in the race certainly was, and now finally he has that “deserved” podium following what Albon thought were improved performances at the previous rounds at Spa and Monza.

“We had a couple of chances to get this podium, and definitely I would have liked it to have happened sooner than it did, but it’s nice,” he said.

“It was a nice time to happen as well if I’m honest, because there’s been a lot of talk and everything.

“It was feeling like Spa and Monza was getting better, and it felt like I was making progress, so to be able to have a weekend where it felt like we got the result we deserved – it’s just nice. And obviously from my side of the garage, these guys had been off that podium for a while, so it was nice to give them something.

“I would say it was one of my better drives. It’s been my Achilles’ heel a little bit, Saturdays with this car. But as…the updates have come along to the car, Saturdays have been feeling better and better, and I’ve been feeling a bit more confident and in tune with the car, which has made the Sundays better as well. But Mugello was a really good race.”

Follow us on Twitter @Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.