Alex Albon footed the bill for George Russell as they headed for dinner following a tactical Monaco Grand Prix.

But, Russell quipped that Albon has not quite made amends just yet after “driving like a grandma” in the Principality, Russell suffering behind as Racing Bulls and Williams used a slow-moving car to create a gap for the other with a two-stop rule in operation, yielding a double points finish for both teams.

Albon’s expensive apology to George Russell for Monaco shenanigans

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Both Albon and team-mate Carlos Sainz made it clear that they were not proud of what went down, a necessary evil to score points, with Sainz seeing the tactics as a form of “manipulating” the result, and even likened it to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal.

So, Albon extended the olive branch to Russell in the form of a meal out.

“He ordered the most expensive thing on the menu!” Albon revealed to the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. “He did, actually! It was the lobster pasta. But he skipped on dessert, so it kind of equalled out.

“It was good. It was a fun evening.”

And when Albon was asked if he paid the bill, he confirmed: “I did pay.

“I wasn’t [going to], but I mean, I should pay.

“That was miserable that race, and I can’t imagine… We had something to play in it, so at least it felt like we had something going, because obviously with the others it was a bit worse.”

Asked how much talk about racing there is over a dinner like that for the drivers, Albon confirmed: “Honestly, there’s very little talk about racing.

“I think there’s not much talk about racing outside of the race.”

Sadly for Albon, it seems as though he has some further making up to do to Russell before he calls it even.

“Not expensive enough!” Russell joked when asked how much the bill came to. “So, the bill is definitely not even just yet.”

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Russell would eventually free himself from behind the Williams rear wing, but at a cost.

Straight-lining the Nouvelle chicane and disappearing up the road, the stewards sent a drive-through penalty Russell’s way, as he ultimately crossed the line P11.

Russell was asked if such a move was a sign of him stepping up as the Mercedes leader in F1 2025 after the departure of Lewis Hamilton, but alas, this was less “rebel George”, and more a George fed up of Albon in “grandma” mode.

“I was just getting tired of staring at the back of a Williams rear wing for 50 laps, to be honest,” he said.

“I mean, it was a bit ironic because I finished higher up the order by doing that move than I would have done if I just stuck behind Alex. I pulled a whole pit stop in the space of three laps, and then I was free to do my own race.

“But for us, the weekend was gone so early. We weren’t fighting for anything. You get the same points for P11 as you do for P20. And as I said, I just wanted to enjoy Monaco. I didn’t get the chance on Saturday. It’s the most adrenaline you get in a whole season, and I didn’t have that chance because of what happened. I at least enjoyed the last 25 laps of the race.

“So, it’s not part of the new George Russell being a rebel, cutting the track, it was just getting tired of seeing Alex driving like a grandma.”

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