REPORT: Points Scored in F1’s Fastest-Ever Race

Atlassian Williams Racing leave Italy with six more points on the board after a long Hard-tyre stint set Alex Albon up for P7 at Monza.

It was, however, another case of mixed fortunes, as Carlos Sainz looked on course to deliver a double-points finish on the opposite strategy before a late collision left him P11 at the flag.

Starting from P13 and P14 after a tough Saturday, both drivers gained a position immediately when Nico Hulkenberg retired on the formation lap.

Carlos led the way in the early, cagey laps, with almost the entire field locked in one long DRS train. Running P12 and P13, the pair began to climb the order as rivals pitted early, moving up to P8 and P9.

On Lap 25, with Alex on Hards and Carlos on Mediums, the call was made to switch positions before Carlos boxed from P7, rejoining in P16. He soon began his fight back, gaining ground as Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto stopped.

Meanwhile, Alex was showing strong pace in clean air on the Hard tyres, matching those ahead and cycling up to P5 before his stop.

As Carlos continued his charge, he lined up a move on Ollie Bearman at the Variante della Roggia. Our No. 55 was ahead at turn-in, but contact between the two sent them both spinning. Carlos was able to continue, while Bearman was later handed a 10-second penalty for the collision.

Alex pitted on Lap 41 from P5, rejoining in P10 and undercutting Gabriel Bortoleto. He then chased down Kimi Antonelli, going wheel-to-wheel through Curva Grande and even being forced onto the grass – but cut back under to seal the move at della Roggia.

Both drivers gained further ground as Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon pitted. Alex brought his FW47 home in P7 for our fifth successive points finish at Monza, while Carlos crossed the line just half a second shy of the top 10 in P11.

"Today we had a fantastic strategy and great car pace," summarised Alex, speaking after the race.

"I think when you have the two together, you're going to have a good time with it.

"Honestly, it was meant to be a tough race on paper but as we were the first car on Hard tyres, it was quite a comfortable race, and the car was nice to drive and really quick.

"I'd say it was one of the best Sundays balance-wise I've had all year.

"In many parts of the race we were just as quick as the top teams, so it was a great comeback from a tough qualifying."

"Difficult day in the office today," said Carlos when he got back to the paddock.

"We were the last car of the pack who started on the Medium, so that didn’t leave us much room strategy-wise.

"I really stretched out the first stint before pitting to the Hard to build some tyre delta, and we were looking very strong, doing a good comeback until the incident with Ollie.

"With a damaged car we couldn’t do anything to recover more positions.

"It’s tough to miss out on good points and digest another race like this, but the speed is there and we’ll do our best to bounce back for Baku."

James spoke about our mixed fortunes by saying, "A great result from Alex for that P7 and some nice points against our competitors in what will be a very close-fought championship.

"We had a very fast racing car today and what that demonstrates is we’ve got to get qualifying right – we are not getting it nailed on and in such a tight grid it makes an enormous difference.

"Alex drove a faultless race on the Hard tyres, we played the team game with Carlos letting him through because he was quicker at that stage in the race and we hoped to drag Carlos along.

"Carlos didn’t put a foot wrong – he drove with great pace in the race but the accident with Bearman cost him a points finish.

"Carlos will be frustrated but at moments like these we pull together and become better as a team. We’ll come back fighting in Baku."