Williams Fined $5,500 As Mechanic Narrowly Misses Getting Hit By Alex Albon’s Car

Williams Fined $5,500 As Mechanic Narrowly Misses Getting Hit By Alex Albon's Car

A promising qualifying effort for Williams quickly turned into a nightmare for the team at the 2024 Azerbaijan GP. Despite getting both their cars into Q3, Alex Albon was unable to put in a second lap during the final part of qualifying after his team released him from the pit lane with an airbox cooler still attached to his FW46.

The British-Thai driver had momentarily parked his car right outside the pit exit and managed to remove the cooler and proceed with his outlap. However, he did not cross the chequered flag in time to start his flying lap. After the session, the FIA fined the team $5,500 for an unsafe release.

Another angle of that incident has now been doing the rounds of X (formerly Twitter). It captures the harrowing moment as the team signals Albon to leave the garage and his mechanic is frantically trying to get the cooler off his car. Unable to complete the job, the mechanic was just inches away from being trapped by the #23 driver’s right-rear wheel.

Albon was on course for another solid qualifying effort for the Grove-based team in 2024. The 28-year-old had been unbeaten in qualifying for 38 consecutive race weekends since 2023.

However, this unfortunate moment for Williams meant that 21-year-old Franco Colapinto put his FW46 ahead of Albon for the Grand Prix. The Argentinian will start the race from ninth on the grid.

As for Albon, he is lucky that the FIA did not punish him for the incident. This means that he will not lose his fifth-row start alongside his teammate.

Williams team principal James Vowles came onto Albon’s radio after the session to apologize to the #23 driver and assured him that they will investigate the matter. He also asked his driver to focus on the Grand Prix as the team has a pretty good shot at a double-point finish at the Baku Street Circuit come race day.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Alex Albon Azerbaijan GP Williams

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Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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