Why Alex Albon thinks F1’s racing rules are “creating a contact sport”

Alex Albon thinks Formula 1’s racing guidelines need further fine-tuning after being on the receiving end of several lunges in Spain and Canada.

At Barcelona’s Spanish Grand Prix, Albon was forced off the track into Turn 1 by Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, but as the New Zealander was ahead he didn’t need to leave Albon any space on exit, forcing the Williams man onto the escape road.

A similar battle took place at Montreal’s Canadian Grand Prix with Alpine driver Franco Colapinto.

As F1’s governing body the FIA published the current guidelines in full on Thursday, offering a better idea of how stewards might judge wheel-to-wheel incidents, Albon said he wasn’t a big fan of how F1 drivers are being forced to race right now.

“I don’t like how we’re racing at the moment,” he answered when asked by Motorsport.com about his recent incidents. “Barcelona Turn 1 was a good example of that.

“If the other car squeezes you off and releases the brake pedal and gives you no space to go, it’s true that it’s their corner. But obviously, at that point you’ve committed so late into the corner, the only thing you can do is exit the track and take a cut-off.

“I had the same issue in Canada. If I turn in on that car that’s releasing the brake pedal on the inside, and he makes contact to me, then he gets the penalty. So, if I turn in, even though I know it’s not possible and I know that he’s going to hit me, then that benefits me. So, you’re creating a contact sport.

Alexander Albon, Williams

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“What I feel like I’ve been doing is getting out of the way for the other car and avoiding the crash, but then actually got penalised for doing so.”

Albon said the document, which was changed ahead of 2025 after discussions at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix following various 2024 skirmishes, remains a moving target and will continue to be discussed among the drivers.

But in the meantime, he admitted he will have to adapt how he races his colleagues in the upcoming races: “I think we’ll keep talking about it. Our drivers’ briefings generally do speak about these situations quite a lot. We understand the difficulties within it. It’s not that we think we know best and we’re just trying to work with the FIA to just clear it up and understand what we can and cannot do.

“I think I need to also change my approach and play it more to the rulebook. As drivers, we’re exploiting these rules and it makes it more challenging when you’re on the outside [of a corner].”

Lawson said he completely understood Albon’s frustration about his late Barcelona lunge to be ahead at the apex.

“Yeah, 100%,” he acknowledged. “If I was him, I’d be totally pissed. Because it’s exactly what we’re doing. I’ve been on the receiving end and on the outside of it. I totally understand it.

“As drivers we always find a way to get the maximum out of the way the rules are written. And the way they’re written, it creates a way of releasing the brake and just making sure [there’s enough] overlap. But I think it’s also very hard to have a clear set of rules that doesn’t allow for that.”

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team, Alexander Albon, Williams

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Lawson felt tracks with tarmac run-offs also contribute to drivers taking more liberties. “If you look at the incident I had with Fernando [Alonso] in Miami, where it ended up with him in the wall. It was never my intention,” he added.

“It’s not just the guidelines, it’s the track limits that are creating issues as well. The fact that I had the ability to be slightly pushed off and come back on creates that issue.

“Back to go-kart racing you instinctively knew how to race, when the corner was yours, when the corner wasn’t yours. If you tried to stay there and it wasn’t quite yours, you got fed a wheel and you were off in the grass. But now, quite often there’s space you can go off track and come back on.”