Sunday morning on the System 1 São Paulo Grand Prix, Alexander Albon was in the course of his finest qualifying efficiency of the complete season. An early run within the moist circumstances throughout Q3 put him into P2 provisionally, giving him and Williams a glimpse of a probably large day.
As a substitute, Albon will miss the São Paulo Grand Prix fully.
A later run in Q3 noticed Albon spin off the racing line at Flip 1 and careen into the boundaries, the laborious shunt inflicting substantial injury to his FW46 and ending his goals of a front-row begin. With the Grand Prix beginning simply hours after qualifying as a result of rescheduled session, the group confronted an uphill climb to get his FW46 prepared for the race.
It was a climb that they may not full in time.
Williams confirmed in a press release roughly an hour earlier than the race that as a result of substantial injury suffered within the crash, Albon wouldn’t be taking part within the São Paulo Grand Prix.
“It’s a heartbreaking day for the group. We’re right here to go racing and no person desires to be on this state of affairs. An important level is that each one the drivers who had incidents in Qualifying are okay, together with Alex and Franco,” mentioned Group Principal James Vowles within the assertion. “Regardless of the perfect efforts of our hard-working, proficient, and resilient group, there merely was not sufficient time to restore Alex’s automotive in time for the Grand Prix. It’s a bitter capsule to swallow on the finish of a tricky triple-header, particularly when each drivers confirmed super tempo this morning.
“We’ll concentrate on maximising this afternoon with Franco [Colapinto] and placing on a present for the unimaginable followers right here in Brazil.”
Colapinto, who certified sixteenth, will now begin fifteenth with Albon lacking the race.
This isn’t the primary time that Williams entered a Grand Prix this season with only one automotive within the subject. Again on the Australian Grand Prix at the beginning of the 12 months, Albon suffered a tough crash in observe. With the group missing a backup chassis, Vowles made the troublesome resolution to slip Albon into Logan Sargeant’s seat for the race.
Albon simply missed out on the factors, ending eleventh in that race. Now, the group is hoping for one thing even larger from Colapinto.