'Wasn’t Much I Could Do' Admits Albon After 'Disappointing' DNF At Sao Paulo

Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 09:00

Williams F1 driver reacts to an unfortunate turn of events during the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

Alex Albon qualified in 15th place but moved up two positions on the starting grid into the 13th place after two Alpine drivers in front of him received grid position penalties for impeding other drivers in qualifying.

The Williams driver also got a great start off the line as he overtook Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen in a matter of few meters.

However, that was as far as the 27-year-old got in Sao Paulo this year. What he didn't see when he was overtaking Hulkenberg around outside for the turn one is that Magnussen was doing the same from the inside.

The German Haas driver saw himself in a sandwich between Albon and Magnussen (who pushed him to the right) and tried to avoid it but made contact with Albon's rear left wheel.

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As a consequence, Albon lost control of his car and was sent spinning forward, collecting Magnussen on the way into a barrier on the right side of turn one. As quoted by formula1.com, the Williams driver said:

"I had a great start; I think it was one of the strongest starts on the grid, but after looking at the external cameras, the driver on the inside was a bit blindsided by the two cars on the right, so there wasn’t much I could do."

Only 14 cars made it to the end, and two of those - Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri started from pit lane a lap down. Consequently, Albon missed a great chance to score valuable points for his team.

"With all the retired cars throughout the race and many out of place with damage from the crash, we really could’ve been on for points, so it’s disappointing when the championship fight is so tight. Today obviously wasn’t our day, so we’ll look ahead to Vegas and try maximize where we can."

The gap between Williams and AlphaTauri (a main rival for the seventh place in the Constructors' Championship) came down to seven points with two race weekends left in the 2023 season.