Ted Kravitz reveals what James Vowles told him caused Alex Albon’s miserable US Grand Prix

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Alex Albon was outclassed by teammate Franco Colapinto during the United States Grand Prix after the Argentine finished in the points for a second time.

Franco Colapinto impressed by working his way through the field from 17th on the grid up to 10th, even passing Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin as he drove into the points.

The Argentine switched to the contra-strategy against the wishes of Williams, which turned out well and enabled him to leapfrog those who were on the medium at the start and struggled with tyre wear midway through the stint.

Alex Albon did not make as much progress during his 100th Grand Prix start, despite starting higher up on the grid. This was due to an accident that he was caught up in at the start of the race, according to Ted Kravitz on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

Alex Albon’s US Grand Prix impacted by diffuser damage

It was the second race that Albon had been outclassed by Colapinto, after the Argentine finished ahead at the Singapore GP following his early retirement.

Albon struggled to make it into the top 15 after getting caught up in a collision at the first corner on the opening lap.

Kravitz revealed what Vowles told him was the main reason why Albon struggled after the collision, having appeared to be significantly slower than Colapinto.

“I caught up with James Vowles and he said that Albon’s diffuser was shot to pieces by somebody who pushed him around when he pushed Ocon around. So Albon was running with significant diffuser damage,” said Kravtiz.

Franco Colapinto loses fastest lap after Esteban Ocon intervention

Colapinto not only impressed by working his way up to the points-paying positions, but he also held on to the fastest lap for a portion of the race.

Alpine elected to pit Ocon in the closing stages for a set of soft tyres, enabling him to snatch it away from Colapinto and effectively repay the favour.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Williams driver Franco Colapinto with praise to stats

The French outfit is currently in a close battle with Williams in the Constructors’ Championship for eighth, and the extra point would have extended their gap to five points.

As it stands, Williams is four points ahead on 17 points while Alpine currently has 13 points with five races left to run.