Alex Albon rues "amateurish" Azerbaijan GP qualifying mistake which caused costly crash
After hitting the inside wall at Turn 1 and triggering the first red flag in Q1, a self-critical Alex Albon branded his mistake "amateurish"
Alex Albon, Williams
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Alex Albon was left kicking himself after a swift exit from Q1 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying session.
The Williams Formula 1 driver caused the first of three red flags during Q1 after colliding with the inside wall at the first corner. After running comfortably in the top 10 all weekend, Albon branded the mistake as "amateurish".
"It's my fault, no excuses really, just a bit amateurish," he told the media. "I think I was first out on track, so when I went into Turn 1 on the first lap, it was really green. And then I came around the second time, and the grip difference was huge, and I was expecting the front to slide a little bit. It normally slides a bit, and you kind of slide past the wall. You kind of almost time it that you get a bit of understeer as you get close to the wall.
"But it didn't understeer, so it's clumsy and frustrating. I mean, we had a quick car. I think I've been top eight pretty much every session, and I've been feeling good with the car all weekend, so it's annoying to get me out of what should be a Q3 car."
Looking ahead to the race, Albon acknowledged that the Baku City Circuit doesn't provide many overtaking opportunities, so he has a big job ahead of him.
Alex Albon, Williams
Photo by: Ben Stansall / Pool /AFP via Getty Images
"Yeah, this is a hard track to overtake, much harder than I expected. So, let's see, because the FP2 long runs, we were quick, but as soon as I got behind another car, the overheating you get in sector 2, really with the tyres sliding around a bit more, you really struggle to get close enough in sector 3 and get the overtake.
"But if there's an 80 km/h headwind to Turn 1, then I think you should be able to overtake. So, let's see. "
Albon will start the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 20th.
Photos from Azerbaijan GP - Practice and Qualifying
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Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
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