Albon finally changed his mind about overtaking Colapinto at the start: "There is nothing to criticize"

Alexander albon had reason to leave Singapore feeling frustrated. The Thai was aiming for a top-10 finish and extra points after his fine haul in Baku, but he ultimately got none of that. Eliminated just outside Q3 on Saturday, the driver Williams then suffered from overheating of its car after only about twenty laps, forcing him to quickly retire.

The premature end of a race that had started rather badly for the n°23. After an average launch, Alexander Albon was surprised by the late braking of his teammate Franco Colapinto at the first corner. If the Argentinian perfectly succeeded in his maneuver on the inside, the Thai was forced to leave the trajectory and go through the escape route, finding the pack in 15th place only after starting 11th. In his radio, annoyed at having lost several positions, he had strongly criticized the attempt of his garage neighbor. Franco just dove! What did he do?, he had shouted, annoyed.

🔙 A look back at the departure of Franco Colapinto 😳

Starting from 12th position, the Argentinian has gained 3 places! ⚡️#SingaporeGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/OprQ0JCc32

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) September 22, 2024

Albon has "paid the price" to be outside the first turn

After his retirement, while the adrenaline had subsided and Alexander Albon regained his senses, the Thai returned to the episode of the start and, after viewing the images, acknowledged that his virulent reaction was not justified. "I don't know what happened on the outside [of the corner], but I think it was more because nobody could turn into the corner. Everyone hesitated and was forced to go straight into the first corner., stressed the Williams driver. Obviously I was on the outside and I paid the price. (…) There’s nothing to criticize. It’s just a bit of a shame that it was me who ended up on the other side of the corner. It was a bit frustrating, but I think the whole weekend was frustrating. We had a car that should have finished in the top ten, and we didn’t do it.”

For his part, Franco Colapinto was satisfied to have taken " the best possible start » in Singapore, he climbed from 12th to 9th place in the first round, even if this was not rewarded with points. “There was a pretty good opening, I went for it and it worked. Here the start is very important and coming out of Turn 3 in front of a few cars is always nice. I was in a position to finish in the points. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, but it’s still the first three races of my life and I’m close to the points again.”

ALSO READ > Bourdais, Kvyat and soon Ricciardo? The victims of the Red Bull method in F1