Alex Albon was pleased to finally break his podium duck as he climbed to third place at the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Starting fourth, the Thai driver had to make his way through the leading midfield runners twice after poor launches off the grid.

But, as teammate Max Verstappen retired for the second straight race, Albon was able to show the overtaking skill he's become known for to optimise Red Bull's day by following home the two Mercedes'.

“It was tricky out there,” he said. “We had to work for it.

"It was nice to finally get that podium, under the circumstances as well. We weren’t good off the line, so a lot of the overtakes had to come on track.

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“When you lose positions at the start, you always feel it will be more hard work, but you never doubt you can get back up there. The first stint, I used a lot of my tyres to overtake, I think, two cars.

“On the mediums, we were strong, so I knew the pace was there, but I was a bit afraid with another red flag as I was happy to be in that position.

"The Renault was strong at starts, Racing Point, too. It fired me up when we lost another position off the start, but I knew we had the pace," he added.

“It was more about patience during the race, and making sure you don’t use the tyres too early so you had something for overtakes later on.”

Albon, of course, has fought for podium places before only to be denied twice by contact with Lewis Hamilton, and he admits the bold move he had to put on Ricciardo had him slightly tense.

“We have been good in the last corner, good in the last sector, this weekend which is good on a circuit where there is only one place to overtake - at Turn 1,” he added.

“I didn’t catch the Renault’s as much as I thought, so it was a last-minute dive on the outside. Of course, I was a little worried, but I left enough space.

"When you send it around the outside, you’re hopeful, and you have flashbacks to previous times when fighting for podiums, but we managed to get through unscathed.”

With the wait finally over, will this be the boost Albon needs as he continues to get to grips with the RB16? We'll have to wait and see.