Alexander Albon revealed Williams got to the bottom of the problem which sent him off the track at turn four during the Spanish Grand Prix.
His off-track excursion prompted an angry exchange with race engineer James Urwin which was broadcast on the world feed. Albon asked Urwin for an explanation more than once, and by the end of the race Williams realised his car had been affected by a strong gust of wind.
The Williams driver said he was taken aback by the moment as he had been driving within the car’s capabilities in the corner where he went off.
“I was tyre-saving through [turn] four, so it was a bit odd,” he told the official F1 channel. “I wanted an answer because I know what the limit of the car is, and that wasn’t the limit.
“Afterwards we realised it was a big gust of wind. But obviously in the moment we didn’t really know it so every time I went through turn four after that I was a little bit extra cautious.”
Albon described the weekend as “a reality check” for the team after they qualified slowest and he finished 18th, two places ahead of his team mate who was last.
“I think we’ve come to a more traditional circuit, obviously we are overweight and we are carrying, I think, a little bit less downforce than other people,” he said. “We take advantage of tracks that are a little bit more different. It was a tough one, we knew it was going to be a tough one, we expect better things for Austria and Silverstone.”
Albon’s radio messages after he went off
| Urwin | Okay, Tsunoda three behind. |
| Albon | What the hell was that? |
| Urwin | Looks all okay from our side. |
| Albon | No it’s not okay. Don’t just say that within five seconds. |
| Urwin | So we see some front wing damage. |
| Albon | Yeah but what was the problem with the car. |
| Albon | I don’t care about front damage. |
| Urwin | At the moment we just think it was locking but we’re checking. |
| Urwin | Alex we are still looking at it. |
| Urwin | Four laps remaining. |
| Albon | We’re sure it’s not wind or nothing? In turn four. I don’t really understand when the car does that kind of stuff. |
| Urwin | Yeah it does look like it was probably wind. So there was a gust, 17kph, at that point. |
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2024 Spanish Grand Prix
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