Albon says he ‘races by my own rules’ as Monza briefing looms after Sainz penalty row
Alex Albon isn’t waiting around for a tidy answer from the rulebook. After a Dutch Grand Prix that left his Williams garage buzzing and his teammate Carlos Sainz fuming over a 10-second penalty, Albon says he’s stopped trying to decode the grey areas around wheel-to-wheel combat. He’s simply racing by a code he trusts.
“I’m not that clear, when I go wheel-to-wheel, what I’m allowed to do and what I can’t do,” Albon admitted after Zandvoort. “I kind of play more under my own rules. What is a fair overtake, what is a fair defence. It works for me.”
It certainly worked last weekend. In the late Safety Car restart at Turn 1, Sainz tried the high line around Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson; Lawson, as the car ahead at the apex, could claim the corner under current guidelines. They touched, Sainz took the hit from Race Control, and Albon seized the moment to slice past both and bank P5. Cue the anger from Sainz, who called the decision “ridiculous,” and a fresh round of paddock debate about what, exactly, constitutes “the corner.”
Albon didn’t hide which way he leaned. He felt Lawson was “clearly” the one who prompted the clash. But the broader issue, he says, is the inconsistency in how inside-vs-outside battles are judged from one corner, one circuit, or one stewarding panel to the next.
“The FIA are very open to discussions,” Albon added. “They don’t hide away from controversial decisions. But it does feel like the water’s murky in terms of knowing how you can race. It’s confusing.”
Expect that to spill into Friday night at Monza. Drivers’ briefings are rarely short when the previous Sunday leaves bruises, and this one has all the ingredients: a high-speed first chicane, recent history, and a field fully aware of how much real estate they’re owed at corner entry, apex, and exit. Albon’s prediction? “I will guarantee you it’s going to be a long one.”
This is not a new sore spot for the Williams driver. Barcelona was his personal case study in lose-lose. At Turn 1 he tangled with Lawson again, lost his front wing, and his race was essentially cooked. Later, he cut the chicane to avoid further contact in a separate exchange with the same car, only to be hit with a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
“Realistically, it feels like the inside driver just has far too much power in the rulebook,” Albon said. “He’s almost completely in control of his destiny, whereas the outside driver just needs to comply. There’s give and take in every situation, and at the minute there’s no remorse for the outside driver. It creates strange penalties.”
That’s the nub of it heading into Italy: what’s the balance between committing to the inside and respecting the car hanging it round the outside? The current guidance — who’s ahead by the apex, who leaves room, who changes line — hasn’t stopped the arguments. It’s a reading test the drivers keep failing because the text keeps shifting.
Williams, for its part, emerged from Zandvoort with points and pace — Albon executing sharply when the moment arrived, Sainz left to stew over a decision that, in his view, ignored the realities of a restart squeeze at Turn 1. Racing Bulls will point back to the guidelines; the Williams camp will point to common sense racing etiquette. Somewhere between those two sits the interpretation the FIA will be asked to pin down before the pack barrels towards the Variante Rettifilo at 340 km/h.
Albon’s stance — race fair by instinct, talk it out later — won’t please everyone. But it does say something about where drivers are in 2025: they want clearer edges to a set of rules that currently feel like a moving target, and they’re ready to push until they get them.
Monza tends to expose grey areas brutally and early. If there’s ambiguity on the table, it’ll show up by Lap 1, brake markers flashing by, carbon fiber on a knife-edge. And if the stewards’ guidance doesn’t evolve, don’t be shocked if Albon reverts to the only compass he trusts when it’s wheel-to-wheel and split-second: his own.
