Alex Albon ‘plays under own rules’ as overtaking crunch talks planned

With the overtaking rulebook once more under the spotlight ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Alex Albon says he plays “under my own rules” .

That is due to difficulties understanding exactly what the racing guidelines dictate, though Albon expects a long drivers’ briefing is on the cards at Monza. That is due to the fallout from Carlos Sainz’s controversial Dutch GP penalty, one which left him enraged.

Alex Albon follows his own F1 rule book

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Albon’s Williams team-mate Sainz was hit with a controversial 10-second penalty at Zandvoort. The associated incident occurred down at Turn 1 following a Safety Car restart, and saw Sainz look to go around the outside of Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls car. The end result was contact, as Albon swept past the pair en route to a P5 result.

Lawson, as the car ahead at the apex, had the corner as per F1’s racing guidelines, but Sainz was furious as the driver punished for the collision, a “ridiculous” decision to his mind.

Albon took his team-mate’s side at Zandvoort, suggesting that Lawson was “clearly” the driver at fault.

But, as he is unclear what the F1 racing rulebook is actually trying to say, Albon takes matters into his own hands when battling with another car.

“I’m not that clear, when I go racing in wheel-to-wheel, what I’m allowed to do and what I can’t do,” he revealed to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets.

“I kind of play more under my own rules. What is a fair overtake, what is a fair defence kind of thing. It works for me, doing it that way.

“Generally speaking, the door is open for us to speak with the FIA, and they are constantly telling us that is the case, and that is the case. But it does feel like the water’s murky in terms of knowing how you can race. It is confusing.”

As such, Albon believes the pre-Italian GP drivers’ briefing will not be a short one, following the events of Zandvoort.

“Yeah, we will definitely discuss it,” he said, in reference to the Sainz/Lawson incident and the racing guidelines.

“The FIA, in all honesty, are very open to discussions around these kind of things. They’re very welcoming to feedback around these kind of issues, and they don’t hide away from controversial decisions, and we do discuss them at length, generally, in driver meetings.

“So I will guarantee you it’s going to be a long one tomorrow.”

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz head-to-head in F1 2025

? F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

? F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Albon has previous with Lawson. He was left with a wrecked front wing in Barcelona after colliding with the Kiwi through the opening chicane. Lawson had taken the outside line through Turn 1, with the contact occurring at the T2 apex.

In a separate battle, Albon had left the track at the chicane in combat with Lawson, re-joining ahead.

A 10-second penalty was sent Albon’s way for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

“It happened to me in Barcelona,” Albon pointed out. “I lost the front wing getting squeezed off in Turn 1 in Barcelona and had to box and it ruined my race.

“Then came alongside the same driver later in the race and avoided the incident, and cut the corner to miss the crash, and then I got the penalty for it. So it was a lose-lose, in both situations.

“Realistically, it feels like the inside driver just has far too much power in the rulebook and he’s almost completely in control of his destiny, whereas the outside driver just needs to comply.

“In terms of racing drivers, there’s give and taken in every situation, and at the minute, it doesn’t seem like… there’s no remorse for the outside driver, and it creates these, what feels like, strange penalties.”

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