F1 star suffers high speed crash to bring out red flag at Australian Grand Prix

Alexander Albon, Saudi Arabia GP, Williams, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

F1 star suffers high speed crash to bring out red flag at Australian Grand Prix

Albon was in a heavy accident near the end of FP1

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 22 March 2024 03:21 Updated: 06:44

Alex Albon suffered a nasty crash during what appeared to be a tricky first practice session for drivers at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Williams driver lost control of his car coming out of turn six at Albert Park, snapping his car into the wall to destroy the right front of his car before then careering into the barrier across the track.

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Although the driver, a suspected Mercedes target to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025, reported back to his team that he was ok, the Thai born driver took a few moments to get out of his car following the high speed nature of the crash.

Alex Albon suffered a nasty looking crash during FP1

Albon caught out at Albert Park

Albon was running 10th fastest when he suffered his crash with just under 20 minutes left, and given the debris caused, it took around 10 minutes for marshalls to clear the track to enable the session to restart.

Drivers appeared to struggle around the circuit during the first session which although held under sunny skies had a tricky wind blowing across the track, which caught out the likes of George Russell, the experienced Fernando Alonso and even Sergio Perez who all ran wide off track at high speed around turn nine.

Lando Norris, who was fastest in FP1, was among the first to drive past the accident, and such was the nature of the crash, he had to slowly make his way through the incident to avoid getting a puncture.

Albon eventually ended the session 12th fastest overall, but given his big shunt, he left his team with a big rebuild job to get the Williams back together again. In fact he missed FP2 following extensive damage to his car that could now threaten the rest of his weekend..

F1 Williams Australian Grand Prix Alex Albon red flag