Italy Report: Points at the Temple of Speed

A one-stop strategy sees Alex convert his P9 start into a P9 finish at Monza

Published

01 Sep 2024

Est Reading Time

2 min

Heading into Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, Alex Albon knew that a points finish was on the cards after securing a P9 grid spot in Qualifying.

Leading the midfield pack off the line, Alex enjoyed a clean start to retain his starting position.

As expected, Albono started to drop away from the top eight cars whilst keeping Fernando Alonso behind despite being within his DRS window.

Those on two-stop strategies started to pit and Alex climbed to P5 in the order. He extended his opening stint before stopping on Lap 17, switching from the mediums to the hards.

Returning to the circuit in P13, Alex would gain a spot when Lance Stroll stopped before reeling in the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, breezing past him on Lap 26.

Alex quickly caught up to Esteban Ocon for P10, but Kevin Magnussen would pass soon after at T1.

Pick up the Albon Pets helmet:

Alex Albon 2024 British GP Pets Edition Mini Helmet

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However, the Danish racer was carrying a 10-second time penalty. Alex had to remain within that margin to the end to take his place.

The two-stoppers of George Russell and Sergio Perez would make their second visit to the pits before filtering back through past Alex.

The Haas of Magnussen showed strong pace to the flag, whilst the Aston Martin of Alonso was closing the gap behind - it was set to be a tight finish.

Successive personal best laps in the closing stages meant he passed the chequered flag 9.1s behind Magnussen, just enough to elevate him to P9.

If there was one more lap, Alex would likely have come home P11 as Alonso was just 1s behind, but our No23 managed the 36-lap-old tyres and the gaps to perfection to secure his third P9 finish of the year.

"It was a good race and I’m happy," Alex shared after the chequered flag.

"I felt like we did a decent job, whilst also struggling quite a lot with the tyres.

"The front left was always a problem throughout so I had to manage this, and I couldn’t really stop the graining, which was always a problem for us.

"In the end, we did a good job of surviving while relying on Kevin’s penalty to get P9.

"Haas had us beat this weekend on race pace, so we still have some work to do, but with another upgrade to come, hopefully, we can get back into this point-scoring rhythm for the remaining races of the season.

"Also, well done to Franco on a great race, he did an impressive job on his first weekend in F1.