Alex Albon played down speculation of a rift with Carlos Sainz after their Williams clash at Zandvoort, revealing they cleared the air over breakfast.

Alex Albon has dismissed suggestions of tension with Carlos Sainz after their collision at the Dutch Grand Prix, insisting the Williams teammates have no problem with each other.

The two drivers met for breakfast on Monday to discuss what happened at Zandvoort.

Sainz accepted responsibility for the crash

Sainz took full responsibility for the incident between the two Williams cars.

While defending on used hard tires into Turn 1, the Spaniard hit a bump on the inside, locked his wheels, and slid into Albon.

Carlos Sainz collided with Williams teammate Alex Albon during the Dutch Grand Prix.

The contact damaged the floor of Albon’s car and forced him to retire.

Sainz continued but finished 16th and received a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Despite the disappointing outcome, Albon insists the crash did not create any lasting tension between the teammates.

Albon: “It wasn’t like Max and Daniel”

Speaking on The Fast And The Curious podcast, Albon joked about their meeting the following Monday.

He said Sainz even offered to pay for breakfast.

Alex Albon says he and Carlos Sainz quickly moved on from their Zandvoort collision.

Albon believes people outside the team have tried to make the incident appear more serious than it really was.

He specifically compared it with the famous Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo clash in Baku in 2018.

For Albon, the Williams incident was nowhere near that level of conflict.

He said both drivers understood that the media would be eager to turn the crash into a bigger story, but neither wanted to encourage that narrative.

Albon jokes about revenge

The Williams driver even joked that the incident could give him permission to return the favor one day.

When asked whether he was now allowed to take Sainz off the track once as revenge, Albon laughed and suggested it might be a good idea.

He immediately acknowledged that the Williams team probably would not approve.

Albon joked that he could now “repay” Sainz, although he admitted Williams would not be happy with the idea.

The conversation eventually moved away from racing and into breakfast.

Albon revealed that the group ordered pancakes, protein pancakes, avocado toast, and even scrambled eggs with caviar.

He also joked about Sainz’s confidence when making pancakes, saying the Spaniard talks about his technique with the confidence of a professional chef.

The relaxed exchange reinforces Albon’s main point: despite the Zandvoort crash, Alex Albon Carlos Sainz remains a healthy Williams teammate relationship, with both drivers apparently ready to put the incident behind them.

The FIA has published its second ADUO assessment for 2026, again ranking Red Bull-Ford’s combustion engine as the strongest while granting no additional homologation to any manufacturer.

The FIA has published the second ADUO assessment of the 2026 Formula 1 season, and Red Bull-Ford remains the benchmark under the system.

The analysis covers every race from the Australian Grand Prix through the Hungarian Grand Prix and compares the performance of the internal combustion engines.

According to the FIA’s figures, Red Bull-Ford has the most powerful combustion engine on the grid.

Red Bull-Ford remains the ADUO benchmark

The latest assessment places Mercedes between 2% and 4% behind Red Bull-Ford.

Audi, Ferrari, and Honda are all more than 4% behind under the FIA’s calculation.

However, the assessment does not include Honda’s latest power-unit development introduced at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The FIA’s second ADUO assessment again places Red Bull-Ford at the top of the combustion-engine rankings.

The results are significant because the ADUO system can provide manufacturers with additional development opportunities when a sufficient performance gap is identified.

After the first assessment period, Mercedes received one additional homologation for 2026 and 2027.

Audi, Ferrari, and Honda received two additional homologations for both seasons.

This time, however, no manufacturer received additional homologations.

No extra development allocation this time

The ADUO system provides additional spending allocation and extra dynamometer testing when a manufacturer qualifies under the FIA’s criteria.

The FIA says its latest analysis was based on extensive data from the opening part of the season.

No additional homologations were awarded after the FIA completed its second ADUO review.

Nicholas Tombazis, the FIA’s single-seater director, said the quality of the available data gives the governing body a high level of confidence in the latest conclusions.

He also stressed that confidentiality and intellectual property considerations limit how much technical information can be publicly disclosed.

Because 2026 is the first year of ADUO, the FIA expects to continue refining the process alongside the power-unit manufacturers.

Why the ADUO ranking is controversial

The system has already generated criticism because it evaluates only the internal combustion engine.

That is just one part of the performance equation in Formula 1’s hybrid power units.

The ADUO ranking focuses on the combustion engine, while teams evaluate the performance of the complete hybrid power unit.

That distinction has created a gap between the FIA’s official ranking and perceptions within the paddock.

Mercedes is widely considered to have one of the strongest complete power units, and team principal Toto Wolff has also acknowledged its strength.

Red Bull has previously questioned the ADUO methodology and requested a review of the results after Canada, but that request was unsuccessful.

The subject is likely to become even more relevant at Monza, where long straights make engine performance particularly visible.

For FIA ADUO, the second assessment keeps Red Bull-Ford officially on top, but it does not necessarily settle the wider debate over which manufacturer has the strongest complete hybrid power unit.

Mercedes says its late team-order decision at Zandvoort was made to protect George Russell from Ferrari and help secure his third-place finish.

Mercedes has explained the thinking behind its team orders at the Dutch Grand Prix, revealing that asking George Russell to let Andrea Kimi Antonelli through was primarily designed to protect Russell’s podium finish.

The instruction came late in the race after Antonelli stopped for fresh tires during a Virtual Safety Car. Russell stayed out and temporarily moved ahead of his teammate.

Mercedes wanted to protect Russell

The key moment came after the Virtual Safety Car on lap 55.

Ferrari took advantage of the neutralization to pit both cars for fresh tires, while Mercedes brought Antonelli into the pits one lap later.

George Russell was asked to let Andrea Kimi Antonelli through during the closing stages at Zandvoort.

Antonelli rejoined behind Russell, but he had a major tire advantage.

Mercedes could have allowed the two drivers to fight, but the team feared that would cost Russell valuable time and expose him to the Ferraris behind.

According to track engineering director Andrew Shovlin, the objective was therefore not simply to give Antonelli his position back.

It was to save Russell time and improve his chances of defending third place.

Why Antonelli had to pass

Antonelli had enough grip to attack Russell on his newer tires.

Mercedes believed that allowing an internal battle would create unnecessary risk.

Antonelli’s fresher tires gave him the pace to attack Russell in the closing stages.

Every second Russell lost while defending against his teammate would have given Ferrari more opportunities to close the gap.

Mercedes therefore ordered Russell to move aside on lap 65, allowing Antonelli to continue ahead.

Russell accepted the decision after the race, acknowledging that Antonelli could probably have passed him anyway.

Russell then had to defend from Hamilton

Once the positions were switched, Russell faced another challenge.

Lewis Hamilton was closing rapidly from behind and eventually challenged for the final podium position.

Russell defended third place from Lewis Hamilton after Mercedes swapped positions between its two drivers.

Russell managed to hold Hamilton behind and finished third, just 0.8 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.

Charles Leclerc crossed the line in fifth, another 0.5 seconds behind Hamilton.

Shovlin praised Russell’s defense, particularly because Mercedes did not have the fastest car during the race.

Mercedes believes the strategy worked

The result gave Mercedes a double podium, with Antonelli second and Russell third behind Lando Norris.

Shovlin said Russell’s defense was one of the highlights of the race and praised him for completing a strong weekend that included pole and victory in the Sprint.

Russell had also made clear that he never intended to ignore the team’s instruction.

Mercedes has a standing rule that its drivers should not fight when they are running different strategies, with positions exchanged when necessary.

For Mercedes team orders, Zandvoort provided a clear example of that policy. The decision to move Russell aside was not simply about prioritizing Antonelli; Mercedes believed it gave Russell the best possible chance of keeping the podium.

Russell ultimately finished third, while Antonelli remained second in the championship fight.