Alex Albon “not a fan” of how F1 drivers race today: It's become a "contact sport"

Alex Albon says he doesn’t like the way Formula 1 drivers race each other in the current era, having been involved in two contentious incidents in recent races.

The subject of racing etiquette has come under increased scrutiny ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, with the FIA releasing driving standards guidelines on Thursday. The move aims to provide more transparency around how incidents are assessed, particularly for fans and casual viewers.

Albon received a 10-second penalty at the Spanish GP after he ran wide at Turn 1 following contact with Liam Lawson and rejoined the circuit ahead of the Racing Bulls driver. In Canada, he missed the chicane while defending from Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, allowing Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg to pass them both in go.

The Williams driver believes the way the rules are currently applied has effectively turned F1 into a “contact sport”, with drivers intentionally forcing rivals off the track to trigger penalties in their favour.

Alex Albon critical of current F1 driving tactics

“I don't like how we're racing at the moment,” Albon told reporters including Crash.net. “For example, 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 to come off the [throttle], 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 with me, and I'm at the edge of the road, then he gets the penalty.

“So if I turn in—even though I know it's not possible and I know that he's gonna hit me—then that benefits me. You're creating a contact sport in that focus.

“What I feel like I've been doing is getting out of the way of the other car and avoiding the crash, but then I actually got penalised in Barcelona for doing so. And then in Canada, obviously, I just lost the position.

“We understand the difficulties within it. It's not that we think we know best. We're just trying to work with the FIA to kind of clear it up and understand what we can and cannot do.”

After losing potential points in both Barcelona and Montreal, Albon admitted he may need to adopt a different approach in wheel-to-wheel battles.

The Anglo-Thai driver retired from the Spanish GP due to damage from a separate collision with Lawson, while his race in Canada was ended early by a mechanical failure.

“It feels a little bit grey in some areas, which it’s always been,” he said. “Even commenting over the last two races, I think I need to change my approach—play it more to the rulebook and understand... as drivers, we're exploiting these rules and it makes it more challenging.”