Alexander Albon endured a frustrating weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, colliding with Daniel Ricciardo in a huge crash and causing significant damage to his car once again.
This latest incident adds to the worries for Williams, who is already facing a critical shortage of spare parts.
“Immediately,” replied Albon when asked if the team’s chassis situation crossed his mind before hitting the wall. “It’s exactly what we don’t need. The impact itself wasn’t at high speed, but the way I hit the tire wall is the concern.”
Albon elaborated on the difference in barriers, highlighting the unforgiving nature of the ones used in Japan. “Normally, we have these plastic barriers, the Armco,” he explained. “But this was much more dug in, and it really stops very violently.”
The British Thai driver emphasized his worry about the car’s condition, acknowledging the team’s predicament.
“They’re the questions I’m worried about, not for me, [but] for the car because that’s where you can do damage. We haven’t had the car back yet. We need to assess it, hopefully, it’s okay.”
Prior to the crash, Albon displayed promising pace on the soft tires: “I had a grip advantage,” he said. “I was surprised with the grip I had out of Turn 2, and was able to pull underneath [Ricciardo] and have a good run into 3.”
Albon then explained his overtaking attempt, which ultimately led to the crash: “More about just trying to get him a little bit off-line [at Turn 3] and try and find a way for 4, 5, 6, 7 – to see if I could upset his line a little bit.”
“Obviously just one of them [mistakes],” Albon admitted. “He didn’t see me, clearly. I tried to back out of it last minute.”
“There was a moment where I realized he hadn’t seen me here, the way he was pulling across, so I hit the brakes and tried to get out of it. But I was almost too far alongside him and he still was coming across, I couldn’t avoid it.”
Beyond the immediate disappointment, Albon recognized the broader impact on the team.
“It’s no secret that we are having a tough time with it at the moment with the parts we’ve got,” he said. “This is going to hurt us for sure.”
Looking ahead, Albon remains hopeful: “We’ll assess the damage and get the car ready in time for China,” he concluded. However, the crash adds another layer of difficulty to Williams’ already challenging season.