Hamilton overtake was unnecessary - Albon

Alexander Albon believes Lewis Hamilton would have overtaken him fairly comfortably on the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, as he lamented a collision which robbed him of a podium finish at Interlagos.

Hamilton's decision to pit from second for fresh tyres when the safety car was called five laps from the end raised eyebrows and Hamilton had just two laps to get by the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly and Albon, with Max Verstappen out in front.

The Frenchman was easy pickings at Turn 1, but Hamilton had to wait until the twistier section of the track to get a chance at Albon, only to make a hash of it and drop the Thai driver way down the pack when a maiden F1 podium was on the cards.

Hamilton admitted culpability post-race and had his own podium stripped by a five-second penalty and Albon was left to lament his more experienced rival's hastiness.

He said: "I felt like we came out of Turn 9 and I had some gap to Lewis and I thought, 'OK, we were OK where we are'.

"I was like, I would go in a little bit hot just to cover him and make sure he doesn't get any ideas, and of course you see it, and once you dive there is a blind spot and you don't know how far alongside he is.

"I thought he was far back enough and I would give him some space but I didn't expect it really. I had the contact, it's kind of a thing where you're just waiting for it and then it goes.

"It was a shame because I think he would have overtaken me anyway into Turn 1 because he had the fresher tyres and he was looking racy."

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