The annoyance at Franco Colapinto’s maneuver at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix has evaporated: Alexander Albon “actually has nothing to criticize” about his teammate’s maneuver.
Alexander Albon seemed very frustrated after the start of the Singapore GP (race report). “What did Franco do? That was a divebomb!” the Williams driver complained on the radio about his team-mate, who had pushed his way past Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz and Albon into ninth position with a late braking maneuver in the first corner.
However, after Albon had watched the TV images of the start, the British-born driver revised his opinion. “I don’t know what it looked like from the outside, but I think it was more that no one could turn into the corner,” the Williams driver explained his initial annoyance at the Colapinto maneuver.
“So basically everyone had to go straight on into Turn 1 together,” said Albon, who ‘obviously was on the outside and paid the price’ by hitting the gravel. As a result, the 28-year-old, who started the race from eleventh on the grid, dropped back to 15th position.
“It was just a bit unfortunate” for Albon
“I don’t really have any criticism,” Albon clarifies. ‘It was just a bit unfortunate that I was the one on the other side of the corner. It was a bit frustrating. But I think the whole weekend was a bit frustrating. We had a car that should have been in the top 10, but we didn’t manage that.’
Ferrari driver Sainz, however, criticized the Colapinto maneuver. “When braking for Turn 1, I naturally had to watch out for Charles [Leclerc] in front of me, and then a Williams came from the inside that braked very late,” says the Spaniard. “I think it was Franco who almost took two or three of us out in front.”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing happened, there was no accident,“ Sainz recalls. ‘But when you’re fighting with the team for the Constructors’ Championship, you have to be a little more careful with cars that have less to lose and where their lives are on the line at the start. When you’re playing for so many points with the team, you have to be more careful.”
Colapinto: anger over missed points
Colapinto cannot understand the excitement about his move in the first corner, especially since he hit the apex and did not push anyone off the track. “I only saw Tsunoda next to me,” reports the Argentine.
“There was a gap and I took the inside line,” the Williams driver explained. ”There was no one to my right and I left space to the right of the white line, and there was no one there either. So, I don’t know. I haven’t seen the replay yet.”
After scoring his first championship points in Baku, the Williams driver failed to score any points in Singapore, finishing eleventh. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) snatched the last point from the Williams driver. “I just think we have to defend a little better and not make these mistakes again,” said Colapinto angrily.
“Just because we stopped one lap too late, we lost our place in the points,” believes the Argentine, who doesn’t want to reproach his team though. ‘It is what it is. We win and lose together.’