Alex Albon backtracked on his “divebomb” criticism of Franco Colapinto’s first-corner maneuver at the Singapore Grand Prix, noting that the concertina effect prevented numerous drivers from turning in.
Albon started the race in 11th place, with his Williams teammate in 12th, but after a poor getaway, Colapinto jinked to the inside and swept past Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, and Carlos Sainz to move into P9, while Albon was forced to the escape route and dropped several positions.
Alex Albon: ‘Nothing really to critique’ about Franco Colapinto’s start in Singapore
In the thick of battle, Albon took on team radio and told the pit wall, “Franco just divebombed!” What is he doing?!”, while Carlos Sainz had similar early comment on the maneuver, dropping places as a result.
Albon would finish the race as the first retiree, but his evening was cut short at Marina Bay due to a cooling issue in his Williams engine.
However, after reviewing the tape from the beginning, he concluded that the knock-on impact of Colapinto’s action was the part that caused problems for others, not the act of his audacious maneuver itself.
“I took a peek. I do not know how.
It appeared on the outside, but I believe it was more that no one could turn into the bend,” Albon told reporters in Singapore following the race. “So, everyone banded together and basically had to go straight to Turn 1, and since I was on the outside, I paid the price.
“In the end, I don’t think there’s much to criticise; it’s just unfortunate that I was on the other side of the corner. So, a little frustrating.
“I think the whole weekend has been a bit frustrating – we had a car that should have been top 10, and we haven’t got that.” When questioned if he knew what caused his problem on the first corner as a result of When asked about Colapinto’s action, the Williams driver stated, “The problem is that I couldn’t turn left because Carlos couldn’t turn left and Yuki couldn’t turn left. So it was only one of them, I believe. “Nothing serious.” The Argentinian would eventually finish 11th, building on his first points finish in Baku.
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