Williams driver Alex Albon explains why he did not let Charles Leclerc pass despite a blue flag shown to him.
Charles Leclerc was on pole going into the Monaco Grand Prix. Despite a strong start, the decision of double pitstop led to the home driver finishing fourth at the end.
There were plenty of disappointments from Ferrari’s end one of them being Albon not letting Leclerc pass to push for the lead.
Charles Leclerc irked by Alex Albon’s behaviour
Alex Albon pitted for slick tires going into the lap 18th and emerged right in front of Leclerc on the exit. The Monaco international was on intermediate tires despite the track drying up.
The Massenet corner on the circuit is a prime position for drivers to overtake each other. Leclerc was within striking distance after catching up with Albon on the same corner.
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There were a series of blue flags waved towards Albon yet he refused to let Leclerc pass him buy. A fuming Leclerc said on the radio: “Come on! What the f**k?”
The Thai-British driver finally let Leclerc by after a radio message from the engineer.
Alex Albon explains why he did not let Leclerc through the first time
Albon spoke about the particular situation after the race. One of the reasons for not letting Leclerc pass was due to the tires. Albon insisted that as he was running on slick, he would have easily re-pass Leclerc if he let the Ferrari through.
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He added: “You get into a position wherein my eyes for both of us, it was quicker if I just stayed ahead. Reason being that I would have pulled away pretty much straight away. So that’s it really.”
In conclusion, Albon addressed this as an awkward situation. He said: “It’s one of those awkward situations. But in my eyes, it was a bit like if we let him right past we’re going to overtake him straight back again.”
