Albon: 'More happy with qualifying' than career-best finish

Published on 14 Oct 2019 09:15

By: Dieter Rencken & Rob Watts

Alexander Albon says he took more pleasure from matching Max Verstappen’s lap time in qualifying than he did from achieving a career-best fourth-place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Aside from the Italian Grand Prix where Verstappen failed to set a lap time, Albon is yet to outqualify his new team-mate in their five races together but was able to set an identical time to the Dutchman in Suzuka to line up sixth on the grid.

Despite going on to finish fourth in the race, a career-best for the London-born Thai driver, Albon insists his one-lap pace was the thing that pleased him the most this weekend.

“Obviously, I wanted to be a bit stronger coming into the weekend, [we were] close but just didn’t quite have the pace so we’ll have a look and come back stronger in Mexico,” said Albon.

“I’m happy with obviously finishing fourth, but I'm more happy with qualifying even though I was sixth. It’s starting to feel a bit more comfortable now, even just doing the Pirelli test I did on Monday helps with that. More mileage in the car is always good for me.”

Asked if he felt he was making a strong case for a full-time Red Bull seat next season, Albon added, “It’s getting there. I feel like just straight away I felt more comfortable in the car in FP1. I had the car a bit more under me and felt I could do what I wanted.

“As soon as you get confidence, that’s where the lap time is. I just felt more confident this weekend at a track where you need it to be honest.

“I’m focusing on myself, to be honest. I’m treating each weekend as it comes, not really thinking too much [about next season]. I’m just thinking about current performance. Time will tell.”

F1 News Max Verstappen Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing

Replies (2)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
Steady gains, but I still don't think of Albon in any way as a future star. However, I'm aware he's very young and that he got put in that car a couple of races ago. But in all honesty, I am very unimpressed to seeing him regularly fighting with Mclaren's at the beginning of almost every race he's had with Red Bull
- + 0
- Oct 14 2019 - 21:48
abhidbgt

Posts: 283
Happy for the guy.
- + 0
- Oct 15 2019 - 04:55

Total queries: 5
Total time: 0.31769299507141
time	sincestart	caller	annotate	bt	desc
	0.000531				instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00061393s)	""
	0.001150				boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00010514s)	""
	0.001258				translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00105190s)	""
0.00030208	0.001995	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id	{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/251522\/albon-more-happy-with-qualifying-than-career-best-finish"}
	0.002313				controller::news/f1/251522/albon-more-happy-with-qualifying-than-career-best-finish (3Q - total module time: 0.06441498s)	""
0.00049686	0.002997	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-05 02:30:00","articleId":251522,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.03501415	0.003524	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-05 02:30:00","articleId":251522,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.00029683	0.039603	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php:750(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php:768(load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/EntityManager.php:521(loadById) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/EntityRepository.php:197(find) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:335(find) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT t0.CmsAccountId AS CmsAccountId_1, t0.CreateDate AS CreateDate_2, t0.AccountName AS AccountName_3, t0.Password AS Password_4, t0.LastName AS LastName_5, t0.FirstName AS FirstName_6, t0.PrivateMail AS PrivateMail_7, t0.F1TodayMail AS F1TodayMail_8, t0.PhoneNumber AS PhoneNumber_9, t0.Address AS Address_10, t0.PostalCode AS PostalCode_11, t0.City AS City_12, t0.BirthDate AS BirthDate_13, t0.JobTitle AS JobTitle_14, t0.FavouriteDriver AS FavouriteDriver_15, t0.FavouriteTeam AS FavouriteTeam_16, t0.Interests AS Interests_17, t0.WorkStartDate AS WorkStartDate_18, t0.WorkingHours AS WorkingHours_19, t0.Disabled AS Disabled_20, t0.LastOnline AS LastOnline_21, t0.RetrievalId AS RetrievalId_22, t0.Notes AS Notes_23 FROM CmsAccounts t0 WHERE t0.CmsAccountId = ?	[175]
	0.066732		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00013304s)	""
	0.066868		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00011277s)	""
	0.066984		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00009203s)	""
	0.067078		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 0.24685311s)	""
0.23755813	0.067537	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput) {"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?	[251522,"216.73.216.82"]
	0.313936		cacheAble: no		module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00034690s)	""
	0.314285				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001502s)	""
	0.314302				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.314305		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00013304s)	""
	0.314440				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.314446		cacheAble: yes		module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00013089s)	""
	0.314580				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)	""
	0.314584		cacheAble: yes		module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00012088s)	""
	0.314707				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000381s)	""
	0.314713				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.314716				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.314719		cacheAble: yes		module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00011206s)	""
	0.314833				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	0.314839				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.314842				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.314845		cacheAble: no		module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00169110s)	""
	0.316538				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.316544				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.316546				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.316549		cacheAble: yes		module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00013208s)	""
	0.316683				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000381s)	""
	0.316689		cacheAble: yes		module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00010681s)	""
	0.316798				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.316803		cacheAble: yes		module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00009704s)	""
	0.316903				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	0.316909				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.316912		cacheAble: no		module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00035286s)	""
	0.317267		cacheAble: yes		module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00009489s)	""
	0.317365		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00032306s)	""
	0.317691				done	""

Albon: 'More happy with qualifying' than career-best finish

Trending news

Replies (2)

ajpennypacker

abhidbgt

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Race / Startgrid

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

World Championship standings 2023

Test calendar

Related news

Verstappen and Albon react to poor Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull

Verstappen not surprised to qualify fifth for Italian Grand Prix

Albon notes how Red Bull could only match Renault while using DRS

Hamilton admits finding Red Bull's engine ban push 'amusing'

Albon expecting a difficult weekend in Belgium

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Driver profile

Team profile