F1 star avoids future FIA penalty with clever trick at Spanish Grand Prix

Alex Albon, Max Verstappen, Gabriel Bortoleto, Monaco, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Spanish Grand Prix

F1 star avoids future FIA penalty with clever trick at Spanish Grand Prix

Alex Albon and Williams were clever to avoid a penalty

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 2 June 2025 09:57 Updated: 13:39

Alex Albon and his Williams team implemented a clever trick at the Spanish Grand Prix, in order to avoid being handed an FIA penalty at the next race in Canada.

Thai driver Albon suffered a nightmare Sunday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having started the race up in 11th.

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Albon lost out at the start, and had to pit following an incident on lap one where he picked up front wing damage, with his early pit stop dropping him to the back of the field.

Having picked his way through the field after his early pit stop, however, Albon was in the hunt for yet another points-scoring finish once more, before a huge battle with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson.

That particular battle for 11th saw contact between the two drivers on two consecutive laps, with the first of those landing Albon in hot water.

The 29-year-old clearly went off the track and remained ahead of Lawson, despite the New Zealander being ahead of Albon's Williams heading into the corner. Lawson pleaded on his team radio that Albon should have to give the position back, but he was forced to do it the hard way, with the pair once again making contact on the next lap.

The incidents caused grave damage to Albon's front wing once again, and the Williams team told Albon to retire the car after a torrid afternoon.

Albon's clever trick

However, as Albon was on his way back to the pits to retire the car, it was announced by FIA race stewards that Albon had been handed a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

If Williams had retired Albon's car before serving that penalty, he would've had to serve it at the Canadian GP instead, where it likely would've been converted into a qualifying grid drop.

However, to avoid Albon's horror race having implications for his next race later in June, the team cleverly told Albon to pit and serve his penalty at the pit stop, before letting him back out onto the track to complete one more lap.

Then, Albon came back into the pits to retire his Williams car, with four-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz then being the only remaining Williams car in the Spanish GP.

It means that Albon will head to Canada on June 13 with a clean bill, hoping to banish all memory of Spain.