Williams driver Alexander Albon is looking for an explanation for his accident at the Formula 1 race in Melbourne, in which the German Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg almost peed his pants.
It was the big moment of shock at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, or a “Code Brown,” as Nico Hülkenberg later put it with a wink – a moment that makes you pee your pants with fear – when Alexander Albon his Williams in the seventh Got out of control lap through Turn 6 and hit the barriers at Turn 7.
The impact itself, which occurred with rather low energy, was less dangerous than the fact that Albon was thrown back onto the track. Pierre Gasly and Hulkenberg were lucky not to rush into the Williams at full speed.
“It could have been a real eye-catcher. If I drive that T-bone in there and drive it in properly, I don’t even want to think about what will happen then,” said Hülkenberg in an interview with “ServusTV”.
Albon had eased off the gas a bit earlier before turn 6 on the lap before the crash than his direct pursuer Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. This is confirmed by telemetry data. In lap 7 his rear just slipped away.
Albon: That’s what he says about his horror crash
“I’m fine,” he says. “But I’m still not quite sure what happened. I looked at the data and it’s really strange. I don’t know why I went off. I went through the corner slower than the lap before. But I was the corner before, Turn 5, a little faster on the lap and caught a little more curb on the exit.”
His suspicion: “I think that the tire temperature on the left went up a bit due to the contact with the curb, and then I had a hotter tire when approaching turn 6. That’s enough. It’s really little things that make a difference. “
Albon doesn’t want to see that as an excuse: “Clearly my fault. I’m angry with myself. It’s very disappointing. I’m sorry for the team because I let them down today. We had such a good car! And If I look at how many cars are still eliminated, then we could have scored good points.”
Albon was sixth in the race at the time of the accident, ahead of Lance Stroll who ultimately finished fourth.
The pace that Williams was able to go “is something that makes me sad right now. In a week or two I’ll see the positive side of it.”
Hulkenberg after the Albon crash: guardian angels were on board
Regardless of the Williams’ sporting performance in Melbourne, the situation almost ended in disaster.
“I missed him by a meter or so,” Hulkenberg shudders. “I also yelled frantically into the radio because my pulse really shot up at that moment.”
Hülkenberg must have completely forgotten to press the radio button, because nothing was actually heard from him on the communication channel. Gasly, who was driving directly in front of him, reported: “I almost crashed into him.” But Hulkenberg’s first statement in the yellow phase was: “I think looking at the track position would not be bad.”
So this is what panic looks like at Hülkenberg: put aside fluttering nerves and think straight back to the strategy. But the moment of shock, he openly admits, is still in his bones.
“It’s a racing driver’s horror scenario. You come through a blind bend, there’s a car on the track – and you can’t even see it because of all the dust and gravel…”