Albon pleased to come back strong after disappointing Saturday

Alexander Albon was pleased with his recovery driver after being the "worst driver" on Saturday in Shanghai.

The Thai-British driver crashed heavily during the final practice session, which put him out of qualifying and forced Toro Rosso to change his chassis for the race.

Starting from the pit lane, Albon carved his way through the field on a one-stop strategy to pick up one point for Toro Rosso. 

The 23-year-old admits that it didn't feel "crazy" inside the cockpit, but was nonetheless happy with the strong finish to the weekend.

"Honestly, when you are in the car you have no idea what is going on,” Albon stated. “I just drive around and the team told me ‘you are P10 and Grosjean is coming behind you and you need to defend’, that’s it.

“I finished the race, and I got told I got Driver of the Day. I was like ‘Okay, thank you’ but it didn’t feel like an amazing [performace]. I did start last, but it wasn’t like a crazy race.

“So, I’m happy to get Driver of the Day. I would say that on Saturday I was maybe the worst driver of the day, so it was nice to get come back strong on Sunday.”

Albon was being caught in the final laps by Romain Grosjean, admitting that the last few minutes was a nervous experience for him.

“The last few laps were a bit nerve-racking but I’m really happy with the result,” Albon reflected. “Particularly after FP3, it was a bit of a disappointment because I think we deserved to really fight for Q3 in qualifying.

“He [Grosjean] definitely had strong pace towards the end of the race. I was surprised because I knew he was going to catch me. The team told me before that he would be on my tail with four laps to go - but following here really overheats your tyres.

“I found that out already when I was coming through the field. I knew it was going to be difficult for him, but I’m also thankful for the blue flags.

“Coming from Saturday, I was a little bit down but the guys did an amazing job to get the car ready. I knew we could get the car into the points and I knew it was not going to be easy. We had the car to do it and I’m really happy.”