Listen to this article The Anglo-Thai driver carried a three-place grid penalty into the Albert Park weekend after contact with Lance Stroll in the previous Jeddah race, but had to start the race from the back of the grid anyway as his car lacked enough fuel to provide a sample after qualifying. Starting the race on hard tyres, Albon completed a mammoth 57-lap stint on his original rubber, gaining track position by staying out during multiple safety car and VSC periods. He ran seventh, holding Esteban Ocon’s Alpine at bay, before pitting on the penultimate tour to complete the mandatory tyre swap. His switch onto soft rubber allowed Ocon, Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) through, but Albon had built enough of a margin over Bottas’s teammate Zhou Guanyu to still finish tenth. Albon explained that he’d saved his tyres early in the race, b …