“We were working on a bad floor, an old engine – kind of the last hurrah, let’s say, this weekend,” Albon said after the race. “We were looking okay, I thought it was on. 20 laps to go I thought ‘this is going to be tough, but we might be able to do this’.
“Honestly, the tyres held on but the temperature didn’t. With the track cooling down, I basically couldn’t drive quick enough to keep the temperature in the tyres. In the last 10 laps, the tyres got colder and colder and I died.
“It was a very tough race, also physically just trying to keep the car on the track, but it was good fun. I think it would have been lovely to finish this year on a high after such a tough last part of the season to reward the team. It wasn’t meant to be, but I think we can take satisfaction from that race.”
As Williams now prepare to welcome Carlos Sainz into the team, with the Spaniard taking part in the post-season test in the FW46, Albon appeared optimistic that they can take a significant step forwards next season.