Williams reveal damage after Alex Albon’s car catches fire
Williams explain damage to Alex Albon's car after dramatic fire in Singapore practice.
Williams have revealed the extent of the damage done to Alex Albon’s car after it caught fire during opening practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The only major drama of an otherwise uneventful FP1 in Singapore occurred during the early stages when Albon’s car caught fire.
Albon had not even completed a single flying lap when he encountered a brake issue and returned to the pits.
But on his way back in, smoke was seen emerging from the back of Albon’s Williams, before a fire took hold.
The situation was quickly under control as Williams acted fast to put the fire out, however the smoke lingered in the pit lane for some time after.
Albon was unable to take part in the remainder of the session, leaving him on the back foot heading into the rest of the weekend.
"It'll be basically a rear-end change. It just takes time to evaluate,” Williams team principal James Vowles told Sky Sports F1.
"But it's much easier now, we have pre-built rear-ends, gearbox and suspension. So it’s much easier to replace the whole assembly.
"I would prefer not to miss any [session], FP2 will be a lot more relevant, but this is also a street track where you build up into it, so he'll be on the back foot.”
Albon’s teammate Carlos Sainz finished eighth in a session topped by surprise pace-setter Fernando Alonso.
Alex Albon’s brake fire explained
Sky Sports F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz explained that the issue was the same as what prevented Sainz from taking the start at the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this year.
"Williams say it was a hardware problem on the rear brakes. They had this with Carlos Sainz in Austria which meant he could not start the race,” Kravitz said.
"They don't think it was a brake-by-wire failure which didn't allow the rear axel to be slowed down by the ERS system and that led the rears to overheat.
"Williams are confident they can fix the problem and get him out for FP2. Not a lot lost in terms of relevant track conditions but a lot lost in terms of getting your eye in on the circuit.”
Williams said in a statement issued during FP1: “Alex has experienced a rear brake hardware problem which we are investigating. He will not join the remainder of FP1 but we are confident we can resolve the issue for FP2.”
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