‘Misjudgement’ led to “silly” FP2 crash - Albon
Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Alexander Albon admits a “misjudgement” led to his “silly error” as he crashed at the start of second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Albon dipped his front-left wheel onto the grass at Turn 14 at the beginning of FP2 and suffered a hefty impact after being thrown into the barriers on the exit of the final corner.
Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Alexander Albon admits a “misjudgement” led to his “silly error” as he crashed at the start of second practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Albon dipped his front-left wheel onto the grass at Turn 14 at the beginning of FP2 and suffered a hefty impact after being thrown into the barriers on the exit of the final corner.
The British-born Thai driver - who was taken to the medical centre as a precaution due to the impact registering more than 15G - missed the rest of the rain-affected session after picking up significant damage on his STR14.
“It was just a misjudgement really,” Albon explained.
“Of course you always swing into the corner, so it’s not always easy to find the limit but of course you want to be as wide as possible and I misjudged it.
“I think normally it’s always the front tyre that you dip, but the front didn’t actually go onto the grass, it kind of just stayed off.
“So I had the feeling that it was fine, I didn’t feel the front drop, so the rear dropped. If you feel the front drop you can normally react to it, lock the wheel and just go straight on.
A nasty impact for Alex Albon
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2019
He lost control on Turn 14 at the beginning of FP2, in tricky conditions at the Hungaroring#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/i8Utvrq89t
“But because the front didn’t drop I didn’t even think I was on the grass. Turned in and obviously the rear gave way, I went into the spin. The weather didn’t help with it raining so it was very slippery, so just a silly error.
“Of course there’s damage but I think everything is OK,” he added. “But we’ll see. This isn’t the one [gearbox] we use for Saturday and Sunday, but it’s looking okay. It’s more just damage.”
Asked how much of a setback he thinks his crash will prove to be, Albon replied: “We’ll see because tomorrow is meant to be raining.
“If it’s raining obviously not good but if it’s dry it’s obviously not too bad. Damage-wise obviously there’s quite a lot of damage but not a lot to report.
“In terms of running everyone was restricted so we’re not far behind. So we can still continue our plan.”
