Albon says qualifying crash rules him out of F1 Brazilian Grand Prix
Alex Albon says he will not start the Brazilian Grand Prix after a heavy crash during an accident-filled qualifying session.
With heavy rain leading to Saturday’s qualifying being rescheduled for 0730 local time on Sunday morning, the conditions had only slightly improved by the time cars took to the track.
Albon’s Williams team-mate Franco Colapinto was the first to bring out one of four red flags during qualifying as tricky conditions led to cars being strewn across the Interlagos track.
Mexico Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz then brought out another red flag in Q2, before Lance Stroll’s crash brought a premature end to the session, which resulted in the championship leader Max Verstappen being eliminated.
The second Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso then shunted before Albon had the biggest shunt of all, crashing off at turn one at a time when he was sitting a provisional second on the grid.
“I think we had an issue; I know we had an issue, we just need to go through it,” Albon said of the incident that saw him hit the wall.
“Immediately when I hit the brake pedal there was a beep in my ear which normally means there’s a failure, rear locking and a big crash. So that’s us out for the race unfortunately… so yeah.”
Asked if he meant his car would not be rebuilt in time for the grand prix, which was brought forward to start at 1530 local time, he replied: “No, it won’t be fixed.”
Williams, however, has not given up getting Albon’s car repaired in time to take part in the race.
Alex Albon, Williams FW46, gets out of the car after crashing out of Qualifying
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
After the Q3 session resumed following Albon’s crash, times improved and left the Williams man in seventh place.
However, his likely withdrawal from the race will be a blow to Williams in its constructors’ battle for eighth place with Alpine, which is just a point behind in ninth.
With Albon set to be out of the race and Colapinto also crashing in Q1, Esteban Ocon put his Alpine on the second row, where he will start fourth alongside Yuki Tsunonda’s RB.
