{"id":28287,"date":"2025-07-28T20:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T20:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/28287\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T20:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T20:16:10","slug":"damon-hill-sends-message-to-alex-albon-after-expertly-holding-off-lewis-hamilton-at-the-belgian-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/28287\/","title":{"rendered":"Damon Hill sends message to Alex Albon after expertly holding off Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the standout drivers from the Belgian Grand Prix who potentially didn\u2019t get the credit he deserved was Williams star Alex Albon.<\/p>\n

The last few races have seen some people question whether Williams<\/a> have shifted focus too early to their 2026 car to cement their place as the best of the rest in the constructors\u2019 championship<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg\u2019s Silverstone podium suddenly put James Vowles\u2019<\/a> team under pressure, but the Belgian Grand Prix<\/a> saw Williams once again extend their advantage over their rivals.<\/p>\n

Haas were the standout team during the Sprint Race, securing fifth and seventh after a blistering performance in qualifying.<\/p>\n

However, Carlos Sainz<\/a> was the driver who split Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman and scored three important points before a disappointing race on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Alex Albon<\/a> was more than capable of picking up the pieces for Williams, qualifying fifth ahead of George Russell.<\/p>\n

Jenson Button was quick to praise Albon<\/a> after securing his third row start, and fellow world champion Damon Hill<\/a> sent the Thai driver a message after he held off Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton<\/a> for the final two-thirds of the race to score eight valuable points for Williams at Spa.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Williams star Alex Albon\u2019s life outside F1 with net worth, girlfriend to parents<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AUTO-PRIX-F1-BEL\"Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF\/AFP via Getty ImagesDamon Hill sends message to Alex Albon after finishing sixth at the Belgian Grand Prix<\/p>\n

Albon lost out to Russell in the early stages of the race, but was able to stabilise and open up a gap in front of Liam Lawson during the opening stint.<\/p>\n

However, Hamilton delivered a tactical masterclass<\/a>, pitting a lap earlier than his rivals having already overtaken five drivers to leap up to P7.<\/p>\n

That put him right behind Albon after he switched onto the medium tyres, and it wasn\u2019t long before Hamilton was trying to overtake him.<\/p>\n

RANKDRIVERTEAMPOINTS1Oscar PiastriMcLaren252Lando NorrisMcLaren183Charles LelcercFerrari154Max VerstappenRed Bull125George RussellMercedes106Alex AlbonWilliams87Lewis HamiltonFerrari68Liam LawsonRacing Bulls49Gabriel BortoletoSauber210Pierre GaslyAlpine1<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Ferrari, that\u2019s where Hamilton\u2019s progress stopped, as he simply couldn\u2019t get close enough to Albon in a newly updated Williams to pass him.<\/p>\n

Posting on his own Instagram<\/a> story, Albon said: \u201cGood battles, good points. P6 in Spa, solid weekend & big effort from everyone back at the factory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill then reacted to Albon\u2019s performance on his own social media<\/a>, and in response to a post about the Williams star finishing sixth, he said: \u201cHad to work hard for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Albon \u2018really happy\u2019 to be at the front of the midfield at the Belgian Grand Prix<\/p>\n

Speaking after the race in his official press conference, Albon said: \u201cI\u2019m really happy; we\u2019re top of the midfield, so that\u2019s always nice, and I managed to hold off Lewis, which is never easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled a little bit in the rain, which is to be expected, so I lost that position to George early on, but after that, we settled in and were able to maintain position and finish strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important not to make mistakes with Lewis behind, but I think his downforce worked in our favour.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a team, we did a great job as it\u2019s not easy beating those top teams, so it\u2019s good to see our package is working well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 266 2 250 3 185 4 157 5 139 6 109 7 63 8 54 9 37 10 27 <\/p>\n

Nico Rosberg was confused by Albon\u2019s behaviour in the cockpit<\/a> when he spoke about how he toggles his delta times during qualifying.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tactic that clearly seemed to work after securing his best qualifying result since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, and Albon has helped extend Williams\u2019 lead in the constructors\u2019 championship to 27 points over Sauber.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n