Albon: Lando didn't enjoy Monza fight too much, but I did

Albon missed the 2022 version of the race as he fell ill with appendicitis and had to undergo surgery as a result, with Nyck de Vries drafted at the time by Williams, the Dutchman scoring two points for the team having finished ninth.

But Albon was all fine and fired up this year, and with the Williams FW45 he drives being rapid in a straight line, a good result was on the cards for the driver who has been performing admirably ever since he joined the British team back in 2022 after spending 2021 on the Formula 1 sidelines after Red Bull replaced him with Sergio Perez at the end of 2020.

Indeed, Albon qualified a superb sixth at Monza last weekend, and on race day, he drove to finish seventh beating both McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

But it was Albon's defense against Norris that showed the level at which the former is driver these days as he managed to keep the #4 McLaren at bay to snatch another strong result for Williams without showing an signs of cracking under pressure.

"That was probably my toughest but my most proud race I've done, so I'm very happy," Albon said of his race at Monza last Sunday.

"I'm sure Lando didn't enjoy that one too much, but I did," he joked. "We went into today knowing it was going to be a tough, long race and we knew tyre deg would be high.

"I think on paper we went into this weekend expecting to be a little bit quicker than we were and four laps into the race I knew it would be long, but we managed to keep everyone behind. We were on used Mediums and used Hards so we made it tough for ourselves; I wouldn't want to do that race again but I'm super happy with the result," he explained.

"Scoring points two races in a row is really enjoyable. From where we were at the start of the year to now is amazing. I don't think the next few races will be easy for us so let's enjoy these ones," Albon concluded.

Williams are currently seventh in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Championship with 21 points and ahead of Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri. Albon who scored all the team's points this season is 13th in the F1 Drivers' Standings.