Albon owns up to crash: ‘I should have pulled out of it’

Red Bull’s Alex Albon says he should have backed off more when he went wide at Bahrain’s final corner in FP2 before crashing heavily into the barriers.

Albon’s shunt happened 45 minutes into the evening session when he exited Sakhir’s Turn 14 and put a wheel onto the track’s AstroTurf. Alas, a massive tank-slapper ensued, sending the hopeless driver into the barrier and severely damaging the right side of his RB16.

Speaking after the incident, a fortunately unscathed Albon said he was caught out by the sudden lack of grip.

“It was just one of those things, I should have pulled out of it really,” he said.

“I was a bit surprised by the lack of grip. Quite a difficult, awkward angle them crashes so not fun. But it’s all good.”

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The mishap was unfortunate as Albon felt his pace was improving with each passing lap.

“In first practice the car was feeling pretty good straight away,” he added. “Then in second practice, if anything I tried a couple of things that didn’t quite work out, but actually more on the driving, I’m just getting up to speed.”

The crash could prove costly for the British-Thai racer beyond the obvious material damage. Albon is fighting to retain his seat with Red Bull for 2021 and the last three races will prove crucial to his future in F1.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted that Albon’s crash was “frustrating” although he didn’t believe it would lead to significant consequences for the remainder of the Bahrain GP weekend in terms of damage.

“Thankfully Alex is OK, that’s the main thing,” Horner told Sky F1. “Obviously there’s a lot of superficial damage.

“The monocoque looked OK, the engine looks OK, it’s not a race gearbox but it’s certainly going to keep the guys busy tonight.”