Alexander Albon accuses Fernando Alonso of intentionally driving off the track in qualifying for the Baku Formula 1 race to trigger a yellow flag that secured the Spaniard a spot in Q2. Alonso went straight at Turn 15 at the frantic end of Q1, destroying the laps of everyone behind him.
One of them was Albon, who was driving right behind the Alpine as it just went straight on in the left turn. The Williams driver was only 17th and, like his team-mate Nicholas Latifi, retired in the first leg, while Alonso progressed one lap in 12th.
Albon was still certain in the warm-up lap: That was pure intention on the part of Alonso! “The guy just needs to be punished. It’s ridiculous. He did it all the way around. He drove slowly on purpose,” he complained on the radio. “It was so obvious the way he went off the track. He braked so early and just went off the track!”
For Albon, these are the usual “games” that drivers play in such a situation. All pilots had a maximum of one try after the late red flag and had to step on the gas to even make it across the finish line in time.
“Of course there are games then. You just reduce the number of people who can even start a lap and then you make sure there are more yellow flags for the cars behind you,” says Albon, but emphasizes: “I’m not angry Fernando. I think he’s just a smart guy who plays the system well.”
Alonso denies intention
However, Alonso himself denies that his ride was intentional: “Everyone complains about a yellow flag, but the curve was not so easy to master today,” he says, blaming it on old tires and also referring to Sebastian Vettel, who is at the made a mistake at the same point and drove into the barriers.
“And the McLaren have also decided to take the emergency exit – just like me,” says the Alpine driver. “My rear tires often locked up and the rear brakes overheated badly,” he says. “And when I drove back to the garage, the brakes smoked a lot.”
But the Spaniard understands Albon’s allegations: “There was a lot of frustration for everyone when a line of 15 cars tried to start a lap with two and a half minutes left. I understand them,” he says. “But it was a mistake that can happen to anyone.”
Albon wants a rule change
There have been regular discussions in recent months about a possible penalty for drivers who trigger the yellow or red flag in qualifying. Albon is now also demanding a rule change and believes that the driver in question should have his best time deleted. “So far, the driver who makes a mistake hasn’t been penalized at all,” he says angrily.
But you could also talk about the rule for late red flags. As was the case last time in Monaco, a late interruption in Q1 meant that all drivers had to rush out of the pits again at the same time in order to complete another lap. In Baku, everyone made it through, but not in Monte Carlo two weeks ago.
“But I don’t know how to fix that,” says Albon. “Maybe you could get some extra time – a minute or so. But I haven’t really thought about that. I’ll let the others make the rules.”
Albon was actually satisfied with his own performance and is convinced that he could have made it into Q2. “It was a good session and we did everything right,” he said. “We weren’t in a good position on Friday, but we turned things around.”
“We were close to Q2 again. Of course it’s frustrating to miss it so narrowly, but technically we couldn’t have done more today.”