Albon recovers to secure Driver of the Day in USGP

The Red Bull Racing man was given the squeeze at the first corner and suffered damage to his car, prompting a first-lap pitstop, relegating him to the back of the field.

A strong stint on the hard tyres saw him battle back into contention, aided by Sebastian Vettel's early retirement with suspension failure, giving him a realistic shot at a top-five finish.

A second stop later on dropped him back to 10th, but with newer tyres, he scythed through the field to claim fifth spot and the fan voted Driver of the Day moniker.

“I’ve enjoyed my first weekend in America and I think we did the best job we could with P5," he said. "The start was strong but I’m a bit frustrated with Turn 1. I need to watch it back but it felt like I got squeezed and obviously had nowhere to go as three into one is a bit difficult! I don’t think it was anyone’s fault, it was just racing, but I had to run over the kerb which damaged my floor and front wing.

"From there we had to pit and I lost a lot of time so our race was pretty compromised, otherwise I think maybe we could have fought Leclerc for P4. In the end it was a strange race but it was fun and I enjoyed some good overtakes to get back to the front.

"Considering we had no safety cars and had floor damage, I think we did well to make our way back through the field.“