Alex Albon to miss Canadian GP sprint qualifying as James Vowles reveals extent of crash damage

James Vowles has revealed Alex Albon’s Williams suffered extensive damage after he hit a marmot and crashed during the only practice session for the Canadian GP sprint weekend

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles has detailed the "extensive" damage to Alex Albon's FW48 following his unfortunate crash involving a marmot during FP1 for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Thai-British driver crashed into the wall at the exit of Turn 7 after colliding with a marmot. With damage to the right side and rear of his Williams machinery, Albon's practice session was over and it has since been confirmed he won't drive in qualifying for Saturday's sprint race.

The team confirmed: "Following the incident in FP1 involving wildlife on track, Alex will not run in this afternoon’s Sprint qualifying session.

"Despite the best efforts of the team to repair the car, the damage sustained was far more extensive than originally thought, requiring the gearbox and PU to be replaced. It’s unlucky for Alex, but we’ll look to take all the learnings from Carlos’ side of the garage to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow’s sessions."

In addition to this, Vowles discussed the damage to the car with Sky Sports F1: "Unfortunately, there's been a few of these. It's hard to see from the footage, but he hit a marmot, and you'll see the damage is extensive, unfortunately, from that point onwards.

"Just front corner, rear corner, potentially floor, front wing, etc. into the suspension."

The timing of the crash could not have been worse for the Williams driver. As the Canadian Grand Prix weekend features the third sprint race of the season, the 60-minute session was the only practice the drivers will get this weekend. With the crash taking place roughly halfway through and no running for the rest of the day, Albon heads into the remainder of the weekend with very little wheel-time.

James Vowles, Williams

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

When asked about Albon's initial reaction to the moment he was helpless in, Vowles added: "I mean, his initial reaction is obviously frustration, because he was quick, up on Carlos, and his pace was looking good - and he needs this session. In these sprint sessions, you get 60 minutes, that's it, and to lose over half of it is frustrating.

"Back in the garage, he's more worried about his mum that suspects he's going to have to pay to adopt a family of marmots, because that is a consequence of that."

Albon ended up with the 14th-fastest time in FP1, and his team-mate Carlos Sainz put in the 15th-fastest time.

Sprint qualifying for the Canadian sprint race will take place at 4.30pm local time (9.30pm UK time).