Excitement at Williams

Embarrassing mishap! “Seen a lot of crazy things, but …”

Alexander Albon had to contend with unexpected difficulties.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Williams made an embarrassing mistake during qualifying in Baku. The team's mechanics had forgotten a radiator in the car. In Q3, Alexander Albon therefore had to stop at the pit exit and remove the part. As a result, he missed out on a better qualifying result and the racing team had to pay a penalty. The team tries to deal with the faux pas with humor. 

It was a curious scene when Albon stopped his car at the pit exit and suddenly waved his arms wildly at the airbox. There was still a radiator in there, which the mechanics had simply forgotten and which had to be removed as quickly as possible. 

It was only when Albon had already driven out of the pits in the final phase of Q3 that they noticed the faux pas and immediately contacted the driver by radio. "Okay, stop! Pull over, pull over," the excitement was great. A wild back and forth ensued, during which Albon was told what had happened and how he should now react. 

Astonishment among experts
"Alex, just push it away from the car. Don't let the marshal touch the car, just push it away," was the instruction from the command post, which the driver followed. However, by this point it was already too late for him to complete another lap in the final qualifying session. The 28-year-old ended up in tenth place. "I'm sorry about the incident, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again," said team boss James Vowles afterwards. 

The action certainly caused surprised looks and amazement among spectators and experts. "We've seen a lot of crazy things before, but this ... especially, it's neon yellow, there's no way the team didn't see that when he went out. It almost jumps out at you," said former world champion Jacques Villeneuve on Sky UK, unable to explain how the mishap occurred. 

James Vowles

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

However, Albon himself did not want to blame his team. "There was a bit of a rush to get the slipstream, a bit like at Monza. I actually think the track is even better with the slipstream than Monza because the exit is slower and you don't lose as much in the swirling air," said the 28-year-old. However, the racing team has announced that it will investigate exactly what happened.