F1 News: Alex Albon Admits Car Damage Too Bad to Race at Brazil

Alex Harrington | Nov 3, 2024

Williams Racing driver Alexander Albon of Team Thailand greets fans at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas Friday October 18, 2024. / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In a blow to Williams Racing and Alex Albon, the Thai-British driver admitted he will not be participating in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix following a costly crash during Q3 qualifying. The crash left Albon's car too damaged to compete, a development that they won't want to be remembered after he qualified P7.

This unfortunate news was confirmed in a communication to Sky Sports F1, where Albon elaborated on his condition, stating, "I am okay but the car is not. I won't be racing today due to the damage sustained to my Williams in that Q3 crash."

The hopes for the Grove team now lies in Franco Colapinto who is starting P18 after a difficult qualifying session where he also crashed.

The qualifying sessions leading up to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix were fraught with challenges primarily caused by severe weather conditions. Qualifying was delayed due to extreme weather yesterdsay, and it was still raining today.

Several crashes occurred as drivers grappled with maintaining control of their 1,000-horsepower cars. resulting in five red flags. Colapinto was the first to see a red flag drop, but he was quickly followed by Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, and of course, Alex Albon.

With the late qualifying being so close to the race, teams will now be working tirelessly to repair their machinery before the checkered flag falls.

Update: Williams has confirmed that they are still assessing the car, and there is a chance that he will run later today.

2024 Brazilian GP Qualifying Results

1. Lando Norris
2. George Russell
3. Yuki Tsunoda
4. Esteban Ocon
5. Liam Lawson
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Alex Albon - TBC
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Lance Stroll
11. Valtteri Bottas
12. Max Verstappen (Not including a 5-place grid penalty for the race)
13. Sergio Perez
14. Carlos Sainz
15. Pierre Gasly
16. Lewis Hamilton
17. Oliver Bearman
18. Franco Colapinto
19. Nico Hulkenberg
20. Zhou Guanyu