Alex Albon shines on Red Bull debut with comeback drive to fifth

Alex Albon was delighted with a "great start" to his Red Bull career after a superb Belgium comeback drive - which included dazzling overtakes.

Albon finished fifth despite starting down in 17th in his first race since replacing Pierre Gasly at Red Bull, overtaking Sergio Perez on the last lap.

Gasly only achieved fifth or better twice in his 12 races with the team.

"P5 is an amazing result and we've got off to a great start," said Albon. "I had some good fun out there and I enjoyed this race a lot.

"I started off the weekend very nervous and if you had told me I'd finish the race fifth I'd be very happy, but I'm a bit more relaxed now."

Albon was somewhat stuck in the midfield during his opening stint on the medium tyre, but after pitting for softs he managed to pass many drivers - most memorably Daniel Ricciardo and Perez.

"I've been very impressed with Alex's performance all weekend and he put in a great recovery drive from 17th on the grid to finish fifth in his first race with us," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

"He was pretty cautious during the first half of the race as he felt his way into the Grand Prix, but things started to come alive for him on the softer compound tyre and he put in some great overtakes."

WATCH: Karun at the SkyPad to analyse Albon's overtakes