Alex Albon has backtracked on his angry radio message at the start of Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix after team-mate Franco Colapinto’s first-corner antics.
Albon spoke out on the team radio after the opening turns as he felt that his team-mate had made a lunge down the inside of everyone too late into the braking zone.
“Franco just divebombed,” said an exacerbated Albon at the time. “What’s he doing?”
But after viewing video footage of the opening corner, where a late-braking manoeuvre got Colapinto past Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz and Albon to move up three places from his grid slot, a fresh perspective on how things played out was offered.
And Albon, who was forced wide and lost places to fall to 15th, believed that the problem was more about cars all running out of room to turn in than anything his team-mate had done.
“I don’t know how it looked on the outside, but I think it was more just that no one could turn into the corner,” explained Albon.
“So, everyone concertinaed and basically had to go straight at turn one. I was on the outside and I paid the price [by having to take to the run-off].
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
“I mean nothing really to criticise. It was just a bit unfortunate I was the one on the other side of the corner.
“It was a bit frustrating. But I think the whole weekend has been a bit frustrating. Having a car that should have been top ten and we haven’t got that.”
Colapinto himself said he did not see what the fuss was about with his first corner move, as he says he hit the apex and did not force anyone wide.
Asked about Albon’s ‘divebomb’ criticism, the Argentinean said: “I don’t know. I only saw Tsunoda next to me.
“There was a space, and I went inside in the corner. There was no one on my right, and I left space on the right to the white line, and there was no one there. So, I don’t know. I didn’t see the replay yet.”
Albon ultimately retired from the race with a cooling problem while Colapinto came home in 11th place after feeling that a better strategy call on a day the undercut proved key to track position could have helped him finish ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
“I just think that we need to defend that a little bit better and not let these mistakes happen again,” added Colapinto. “Because just by stopping a lap too late, we lost the place in the points. But it is what it is. We win and we lose together.”
While Albon played down the first corner moment after the race, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was not happy with what happened.
Speaking to Spanish channel DAZN, he said: “For starting on the dirty side, I didn’t get a bad start. I think I got off relatively well.
“But then braking into Turn 1, I obviously had to watch out for Charles [Leclerc] in front and then a Williams came up the inside, braking very late.
“I think it was Franco who almost took two or three of us out in front. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened, there was no accident, but when you are fighting for the constructors’ championship with the team, you have to be a bit more careful with cars that have less to lose and that have their lives at stake at the start.
“When you are playing for so many points with the team, you have to be more careful.”
