“In the race, it is difficult,” James Vowles defends Alex Albon after his disastrous Australian GP crash
James Vowles does not think Alex Albon could have done anything different to prevent the crash.
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Alex Albon and James Vowles. Images via F1 and Williams.
Alex Albon had a kickass start to the 2023 Formula 1 season. He scored a point at the Bahrain GP. The Thai-British driver, James Vowles, and his team were delighted with his performance. But the excitement lasted only for a while. Albon retired from the next two races, namely, the Saudi Arabian GP and the Australian GP. Albon had a positive qualifying session in Melbourne. He started the race from P8. But things went downhill soon.
On lap seven, the Williams Racing driver lost control of his car and crashed into the wall. After the race, Alex Albon took the blame and admitted it was his mistake. But his team principal, James Vowles, disagrees. Vowles does not think there was anything Albon could do about the crash. The Williams team boss explained the incident in detail.
Williams Racing posted a video on social media explaining what had happened on lap seven. James Vowles stated, “Turn five is full throttle in qualifying, but in the race it is difficult. We, therefore, assumed he would have to lift. However, the car worked better than expected and he could just about get through that corner at full throttle.” As Albon went through the corner at full throttle, the power systems were affected.
Related: Ferrari’s bid for redemption: Appeals to rescind Carlos Sainz’s ‘unfair’ Australian GP penalty
James Vowles gives an interesting insight into Alex Albon’s crash
Vowles further explained, “As a result, Alex was going ten kilometres per hour faster through turn five than the lap before. Alex noticed he was going too fast and had to lift. As a result, he ran wide, causing his left rear tyre to hit the kerb. None of this seems like a big deal, but when the tyres are on the limit it has big consequences. Once he turned in for turn six, he noticed that he didn’t have the grip from the laps before.”
James Vowles’ detailed explanation reveals that it was not a mistake from the driver’s side. It was a building-up of events. And as a result of that, Alex Albon did not have a grip on turn six, and hence, he crashed. Williams Racing will have to look into it and sort out its issues by the next race in Baku. They have enough time to do so.
The FW45 looks more promising than the previous contenders. This is a piece of good news for the team. James Vowles is thrilled with his new role as the Williams team principal. The former strategy director at Mercedes AMG Petronas is continuing his race debrief videos with his new team. After every F1 race, Mercedes and Williams release a race debrief video answering the fans’ questions which has been very informative.
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