Bizarre Alex Albon incident triggers FIA stewards investigation at Azerbaijan GP

Alex Albon sits in the garage during qualifying for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Alex Albon made it through into the top 10 in Azerbaijan, but a critical Williams error left him unable to complete a final flying lap.

Albon has qualified in 10th place for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, having performed heroics through the first two parts of qualifying, but missed out on his final opportunity as Williams left a fan attached to his car.

Williams left a cooling fan attached to Alex Albon’s car

Emerging with just over two minutes to go to attack his final flying lap in Q3, Albon was forced to pull over to the side of the track at the pit exit as he realised a large bright-yellow Komatsu cooling fan had been left attached to the airbox inlet above his head.

Used to cool the car in the garage, the car had been released into the pitlane without being removed by a mechanic, with Albon forced to stop at the side of the track in a bid to remove it himself.

With the car on track outside the pitlane, the Williams mechanics couldn’t go to help him and they were left watching on with an agonising wait to see whether Albon could extricate the fan.

Reaching over his head but unable to turn around due to being strapped tightly into his cockpit, Albon managed to get the fan out and extended it outside of his cockpit in an attempt to get a marshal to grab it.

With no one taking the part from him, Albon dropped the fan to the ground and drove off, scattering errant dry ice everywhere as he got back up to speed. Unfortunately for the British-Thai racer, he hadn’t done it quickly enough to make it on time to start his final flying lap and thus had to settle for 10th place.

Oh NO!!!!

Albon leaves the pit lane with his airbox still attached, and is forced to park the Williams at pit exit!

We've never seen that one before #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/tMUwkuNfFu

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 14, 2024

The unsafe release of the car has been noted by the stewards and will be investigated following the session, meaning a risk to Albon’s starting position if punishment is required for Williams.

“Alleged breach of Articles 34.14 c) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and 12.2.1 h) of the International Sporting Code,” read the summons.

“Potential release of Car 23 in an unsafe condition at 16:58 and the discard of the cooling equipment.”

Albon was outqualified for the first time since the 2022 British Grand Prix, with Franco Colapinto underlining his strong start to life in F1 by finishing with the ninth-quickest time, three-tenths of a second quicker than Albon’s first flying lap.

This article will be updated.

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