Red Bull’s Alexander Albon says he is aiming to hinder Mercedes’ progress during the Bahrain Grand Prix after he qualified on the second row of the grid.
Albon will start Sunday’s race in fourth place alongside team-mate Max Verstappen and behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Albon’s performance came one day after his heavy crash at the final corner in Sakhir, as he fights for his 2021 position at Red Bull.
Albon admits he would’ve liked to have walked away with a smaller gap than six-tenths to Verstappen, but hopes he can help his team fight Mercedes during the race.
“Obviously coming from where we were 24 hours ago it’s a good result,” Albon said.
“Still, would have liked to be a bit closer up there, but P4, obviously we’re in the mix. Hopefully we can have a good start and be in there, being a thorn in Mercedes’ backside.”
Albon will start the race on the Medium Pirelli tyres, as will those ahead for their opening stints.
After missing out on a bit of confidence at the start of FP3 following his crash on Friday, Albon says he regained trust in the car as the day went on.
“You miss out a bit on track time, a little bit of confidence in the beginning of P3, but actually the car was good straightaway,” Albon said.
“Quali was a little bit more difficult, but just chipping away at it, doing little things throughout the session, and by the final run it was OK.
“We went out on Softs just to be safe in Q2 which meant we only had one set in Q3 just to perfect the lap.”
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