Albon out of Sao Paulo GP after qualifying crash

Alex Albon will not take part in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix following his heavy crash late in Q3 during Sunday morning’s qualifying session.

Qualifying was postponed from Saturday due to heavy rain and took place in wet conditions despite the extremely early start time of 10am. 0730, with several crashes delaying it further. Albon had impressed to sit provisionally second on the grid in the closing stages of Q3, but had a major crash at Turn 1 and says he will not take part in the race as a result.

“I think we had a problem — I know we had a problem, we just have to work through it,” Albon said. “I don’t know. As soon as I hit the brake pedal there was a beep in my ear which usually means there’s a fault and then rear lock and a big crash. I mean we’re out for the race unfortunately.. .

“It won’t be fixed.”

Despite his crash, Albon still finished seventh in class at the end of qualifying, but once his withdrawal is confirmed, all other cars will move up a position.

Teammate Franco Colapinto was the first to crash in Q1 – exiting at Turn 3 – and the many delays to the session meant it was another hour and a half before Williams could get the car back to analyze the damage on the rookie’s side of the garage. However, Colapinto will make the race.

“A little bit of wheelspin and I dropped the rear very aggressively and I couldn’t recover it,” Colapinto said. “First time in the wet and a bit slippery, a bit of a mistake and I’m very sorry for the guys in the garage. It’s a lot of work, let’s see if we can do the race, but I’m very sorry for them.”

In addition to the two Williams cars, both Aston Martins were also heavily damaged in crashes, as was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.