Alex Albon questions FIA inconsistency as he pinpoints Liam Lawson's incident with Oscar Piastri at Las Vegas GP

Alex Albon believes the FIA stewards need to be more consistent when policing track incidents, particularly those involving Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson. Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, ahead of the 2025 Qatar GP, the Williams driver argued that there is currently too much tolerance for lap-one chaos and that each incident should be judged on its own merits.

Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri on the opening lap in Las Vegas, damaging his own car and dropping the McLaren driver down the order. The stewards deemed it a racing incident and took no further action. Lawson eventually retired from the race. Bortoleto, however, misjudged his move and triggered a multi-car clash, damaging Lance Stroll’s car and compromising Pierre Gasly’s race before retiring himself. The Brazilian received a five-place grid penalty for the Qatar GP. Alex Albon was also caught up in the ripple effect of the lap-one chaos, clipping the rear of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Despite sustaining front-wing damage that led to his retirement, he was handed a five-second time penalty.

The FIA has long adopted a more lenient approach to first-lap incidents, but the inconsistency in Las Vegas reignited debate. Several drivers, including Piastri, questioned why Lawson escaped a penalty while others were penalised for seemingly similar circumstances. Alex Albon acknowledged that each incident differed in nature but stressed that the lack of clarity around how the rules are applied creates confusion. He believes a more transparent and uniform approach is needed to restore confidence in the stewarding process.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the incidents during the race were penalised differently due to the tolerance for Lap 1 incidents, Alex Albon explained:

“Yeah, well, I'll give you an example. Liam and Liam hit Oscar, locked up. Very lucky to be wheel-to-wheel, so no damage to both cars. But obviously Oscar took a hit. Gabrielle had a similar crash, but maybe I think equally out of control, but because of the circumstance of [situation]. Liam was quite lucky that one; the car was kind of already in the middle of the corner, so he only made contact with Oscar. But Gabby, starting further back, had a bigger crash because he kind of had a good start, and he was basically stuck with a multiple amount of cars in front of him. So he kind of took the big crash, let's say. I think Gabby's getting a grid place penalty this weekend.”

Comparing the two incidents of Lawson and Bortoleto, Alex Albon further added:

“So there is a difference, in terms off, there is no kind of consistency which kind of was, in terms of policing, cause and effect kind of think. At the same time I got a penalty in Vegas, a five-second penalty for clipping the back of Lewis going for an overtake. I had front wing damage, Lewis had no damage, and he lost maybe three tenths of track time, race time. But I don't understand where the rules apply the penalties and what gets to you a penalty or not. Because there's a tolerance for lap 1 [incidents], how big is a tolerance for clearly, it's quite big as long as you don't have a huge crash.”

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Alex Albon hopes that the driver’s meeting in Qatar creates solutions to the complex rules and regulations

Alex Albon hopes that the upcoming driver’s briefing ahead of the Qatar GP, which has been called specifically to review and refine racing guidelines. He hoped it would lead to clearer and more effective solutions for on-track regulations. The Williams driver feels that the current rulebook has become too complex, with regulations dictating everything from corner approach to the definitions of clean and dirty racing. He believes this level of detail has begun to interfere with the natural flow of racing.

Albon also reflected on the era of the late Race Director Charlie Whiting, recalling how incidents were explained simply, decisions were clearly communicated, and drivers generally accepted the outcomes. He expressed a desire to return to a system with fewer convoluted rules and a more intuitive style of officiating.

Asked what solution and conclusion he hoped to achieve from the driver’s briefing, Alex Albon said:

“I think I said it on my last meeting, but I think for me it's impossible to have such strict ruling on each thing - If the car is here, the car is there, the turning point of the corner, what dictates the corner, track usage and and squeezing a driver off the track or or not or what’s entitled to your space and what's not. It’s all almost like you're driving and you this that that's not really racing in my head that's just that's almost like a - we have a scenario of a rule and then we have another rule that explains the loopholes with the first rule, and then there's layers to the rules, and it makes it complicated.”

Stating his opinion on the solution for the problems with the stewarding and penalties, Alex Albon explained:

“To be honest with you, I think in my side, it's like as drivers we have grown up karting, doing Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, we know what's on the edge, we know what's clean driving, what's dirty driving, what not. I tend to abide by my own version of whats clean and what’s not and to me it kind of makes sense. Back in the days, when there were less rules, it was more flow, less question marks and more tell me if I am wrong. But it was more like Charlie [Whiting] would say his version of the incident and everyone kind of just said okay and moved on and that was kind of the way it was. I think thats that's kind of the direction I would like it to go in because it's just yeah you can do the risky move or you can do the aggressive move or you can do the dirty move but then you're putting yourself at risk. It’s almost better in a way, in my opinion, because it is not concrete, if you want to be the dirty driver, you want to do the risky thing. It's up to you to take on that risk.”

Although Alex Albon outlined his own interpretation of clean and dirty racing, he noted that this definition differs from driver to driver. In earlier eras, the regulations were relatively simple, but over time, certain drivers began exploiting grey areas in the rules. This led to the introduction of multiple layers of regulation, particularly around the corner approach and defensive driving, that modern F1 drivers now have to process while travelling at nearly 300 mph.

With the nature of the sport and the adrenaline-fuelled chaos of opening laps, these complexities often leave stewards in challenging positions when assessing incidents. As a result, the solution to the problem is far more nuanced than the complaints alone suggest. Since the passing of Charlie Whiting, several Race Directors have occupied the role, but none have remained in the position long enough to establish the same continuity. This turnover has limited drivers’ ability to build a consistent working relationship with the Race Director, something many felt came naturally with Whiting, who was widely respected and approachable.