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Starting eighth, the Williams driver was among those who made long first stints and were able to time their pit stops to coincide with a virtual safety car period following Kevin Magnussen’s on-track pit stop.
It quickly turned into a full safety car period and after the restart Albon was running in ninth place.
He managed to pass Carlos Sainz, and in the final laps he pushed Fernando Alonso, while successfully fending off Charles Leclerc.
Prior to its race to eighth place, Albon had been in the top three in all three free practice sessions, indicating the FW45 was highly competitive at Silverstone.
“It was a great weekend,” Albon said. “When you think about the speed of the car, P8 was the worst position in free practice, qualifying and the race.
“We expected the race to be a bit more difficult with Fernando and Checo (Perez) behind us. I struggled a bit at first. In fact, there was some cement from the Porsches (support race).
“I don’t know if that was the reason, but I didn’t have much grip at the start. And then for most of the race we were fine. We actually felt pretty good with the car.
Alex Albon, Williams FW45
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Albon admitted he was lucky with the yellow flag period: “I have to say the safety car came out in perfect time.
“So we boxed, and obviously we started again, licking my lips a bit. And yes, the Ferraris were, I guess, on the harder compounds.
“I managed to overtake Carlos. And then it was a tricky race. I had better pace than Fernando, which was a bit of a surprise. But then Charles was coming to the end quite quickly.
“So it was a back and forth race – one eye forward, one eye back. It became a bit of a dogfight. I wouldn’t have wanted this race to last one more lap.
When asked what an extra lap might have meant, he replied: “I think Charles would have passed. If it was one lap, Charles would have passed, if it was two laps, Charles would have passed us both. And I would have passed Fernando. That’s my theory!
Albon acknowledged that the team expected the car to be more competitive at Silverstone compared to other tracks, even its overall form was a surprise.
“I think our ups and downs are pretty easy to predict,” he said. “I don’t know if McLaren could have predicted his pace this weekend. But I think we can.
“It’s pretty clear that the tracks where there’s a little less downforce and a lot of full throttle time – that’s all us. That’s how we like it.
“So it’s also important that the track stays fairly cool. Today the track temperature was dropping at the end of the race which made us a bit more competitive.
“And also not a lot of braking, the less braking the better for us. So Silverstone works pretty well for that.
Albon’s score at Silverstone left Williams seventh in the championship, on the same points as Haas.
“The thing is, we definitely have a faster car this year,” Albon said. “And this new package has also upgraded everything. But we wouldn’t go to Hungary hoping for points.
“We are always going to have our good circuits and our bad circuits, and Spa, Monza are always our priority.
“So we are in a very good position. Points aren’t always available, so in the few races where we can score points this year, we’ll have to make sure we capitalize to stay seventh.