Alex Albon was crowned Formula 1 Driver of the Day at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix after a fantastic seventh place for Williams, denying Max Verstappen.
Albon‘s finish was his best ever for Williams, in his second season with the Grove outfit, and the team’s first points in Canada since 2017.
Verstappen won his fourth consecutive grand prix with ease, marking Red Bull‘s 100th F1 win and drawing himself level with Ayrton Senna on 41 victories in the sport – eight years younger than the great Brazilian was when he achieved that feat.
Verstappen also missed out on the fastest lap point to Sergio Perez, who snatched it from Lewis Hamilton at the death, but he post-race he didn’t sound gutted to have not got the full house.
For Albon, who was teammates with Verstappen in 2019 and 2020 but was unable to match the Dutchman and ended up without an F1 seat because of it, Montreal marks a new high in his Williams career.
Soaring like an Albon-tross
While Verstappen likely won’t give a second thought to Driver of the Day – seeing as he didn’t really care about matching Senna‘s record – it provides a nice narrative to the day’s events.
Cut adrift by Red Bull after he failed alongside Verstappen particularly in 2020, despite having some race-winning chances snatched away from him, Albon‘s career could’ve been over when he failed to secure a 2021 seat.
However, Williams offered him a lifeline and he’s repaid them handsomely, taking over from former F2 rival George Russell as team leader.
Despite plenty of impressive efforts, two largely uncompetitive cars means his Montreal seventh his just his fifth points finish at the team, but it was hard-fought.
Starting ninth after a brilliant wet qualifying performance, Albon was locked in a battle all race with the McLarens, Esteban Ocon and at varying stages Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas.
But on a difficult defensive circuit, Albon proved the measure of all of them and finished ‘best of the rest’ behind the three leading teams.
Where is the next F1 2023 race?
With the F1 circus finished in Canada, the next race is the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix which will be held at the Red Bull Ring in the Styrian mountains over the weekend of June 30-July 2.
