#albodium

Baku feature race, 2018

At the end of 2017, Alex was let go from his F2 team ART after a lacklustre season. Among other things, a broken collarbone caused him to miss a race weekend and compromised the rest of his campaign. (This was the infamous mountain bike incident with George Russell.)

Alex did not have a seat at the start of 2018. Lacking financial backers, and facing the end of his racing career, Alex begged rival team DAMS for a chance to show what he could do. They gave him one weekend: Round 1 at Sakhir. He performed well enough (P4 in the feature race) that DAMS gave him another single round, here at Baku – and he won. The relief and joy on Alex's face make this a memorable interview.

Alex would continue to race week-to-week until later in the season. DAMS gave him an ongoing contract when he became a serious title contender, in a three-way fight with George Russell and Lando Norris.

All Baku 2018 clips

📽️ Parc fermé interview 📽️ Cooldown room 📽️ Podium: trophies 📽️ Podium: champagne

Silverstone feature race, 2018

🏁 Interview with George, P2 🏁 [George feigns confusion] 'Home crowd for Alex?' [makes eye contact with Alex off-camera, laughs] 'I thought, no, yeah— home crowd for us both.' 🏁 'Great for us, loads of fans here – not sure if they were supporting for us or the football at the time, but nevertheless, it's a great atmosphere here at Silverstone.'

NOTE: the England–Sweden 2018 World Cup quarter final was being played during this race. England won 2–0.

All Silverstone 2018 clips

📽️ Chequered flag 📽️ Victory lap 📽️ Parc fermé: part 1 📽️ Parc fermé: part 2 📽️ Cooldown room 📽️ Podium: trophies 📽️ Podium: champagne

Silverstone feature race, 2018

As far as I know, this is the first ever galex podium – they were not racing in the same category before this.

Alex Albon qualified P2 for the feature race. When polesitter George Russell had a slow stop, Alex was able to get in front. George then earned a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Alex hung on to the lead and finished P1 for the second win of his F2 career.

As seems to be typical at Silverstone, Alex began the race as a 'Thai driver' but the closer he got to a good result, the more British the commentators considered him to be. George made a joke (or 'joke') about whether or not it was Alex's home race in the parc fermé interview; Alex pushed back at this in the cooldown room.

Silverstone feature race, 2018

🏁 Arrival in parc fermé 🏁 Celebration with team 🏁 Handshake with George 🏁 Difficulties removing helmet for interview 🏁 Alex-typical combination of modesty and cuntiness 🏁 [arguably not his best-ever haircut] 🏁 Beginning of 'home race' discussion 🏁 'The king of consistency'

All Silverstone 2018 clips

📽️ Chequered flag 📽️ Victory lap 📽️ Parc fermé: part 1 📽️ Parc fermé: part 2 📽️ Cooldown room 📽️ Podium: trophies 📽️ Podium: champagne

Silverstone feature race, 2018

Includes commentators saying nice things about Alex in the context of recent difficulties on track.

All Silverstone 2018 clips

📽️ Chequered flag 📽️ Victory lap 📽️ Parc fermé: part 1 📽️ Parc fermé: part 2 📽️ Cooldown room 📽️ Podium: trophies 📽️ Podium: champagne

2017, ART Grand Prix: 2 podiums

2nd, Spielberg sprint

2nd, Yas Island sprint

2018, DAMS: 8 podiums including 4 wins

🏆 Winner, Baku feature race (📽️ parc fermé interview | cooldown room | podium: trophies | podium: champagne)

2nd, Barcelona sprint (📽️ podium video)

🏆 Winner, Silverstone feature race (📽️ chequered flag | victory lap | parc fermé: part 1 | parc fermé: part 2 | cooldown room | podium: trophies | podium: champagne)

🏆 Winner, Hungaroring sprint (📽️ chequered flag | parc fermé | cooldown room | podium: trophies | podium: champagne)

3rd, Spa-Francorchamps sprint

3rd, Monza feature race

🏆 Winner, Sochi feature race