F1 star at risk of MISSING Las Vegas Grand Prix as team issue official statement

Williams F1 drivers Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon — Photo: © IMAGO

Latest F1 News

F1 star at risk of MISSING Las Vegas Grand Prix as team issue official statement

The driver's team have issued a statement regarding his health after a huge crash in Las Vegas

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 23 November 2024 13:28 Updated: 16:30

An F1 star is at risk of missing the Las Vegas Grand Prix after their team issued an official statement.

The Las Vegas GP has already been a tough one for Williams, with both Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto exiting qualifying prematurely.

F1 HEADLINES: Team-mates collide as Hamilton BLAME emerges at Las Vegas Grand Prix

Article continues under video

Albon, who suffered a fuel system issue in FP2 on Thursday, could not extract enough pace from his car to progress into Q2 in Vegas.

The 28-year-old will start Sunday’s race in P18, a disappointing return to action after he failed to start the last race in Brazil.

Alex Albon failed to make Q2 in Las Vegas GP qualifying

Franco Colapinto’s Las Vegas GP under threat

Despite Albon's woes, it was Franco Colapinto who made the headlines after he suffered a terrifying crash in Q2.

Trying to put in a lap to get through into Q3, Colapinto clipped the wall at the inside of Turn 16. The contact sent him and his Williams smashing into the barrier on the right and scattering the track with debris.

Whilst the Argentine managed to climb out of the car and appeared fine, Colapinto must now pass medical tests to be able to race in Saturday’s race.

Williams have since released an official statement on Colapinto's condition and revealed the risk that he could miss the Las Vegas GP after suffering an impact of over 50G.

F1 RESULTS: Red Bull disaster as HUGE crash brings out red flag

Franco Colapinto could miss the Las Vegas GP

“During Qualifying Franco sustained a significant impact of over 50G, requiring a medical check up,” the statement read.

“An impact of this magnitude is obviously significant and severe and he will need to be evaluated again tomorrow before we will know if he is clear to race.

“Franco’s health is all that matters and we are glad he is otherwise okay. We will provide further updates when we can.”

Can Williams replace Franco Colapinto?

The 2024 Formula One Sporting Regulations have very clear rules on driver changes under Article 32.

Article 32.2a states: "Provided any change proposed after the end of initial scrutineering receives the consent of the stewards, a change of driver may be made at each Competition where a sprint session is not scheduled, at any time before the start of the qualifying session."

However, given that this potential replacement would be coming after qualifying, it does not seem as though Williams would be allowed to replace Colapinto under this clause.

Under article 32.2, however, there is a provision which states: "Additional changes for reasons of force majeure will be considered separately."

It appears that whether or not this instance would satisfy that definition would be entirely at the discretion of those who makes the rules.

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

View full biography

Williams Las Vegas Grand Prix Alex Albon Franco Colapinto