Alexander Albon will not take part in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix following his crash at the end of final practice.
The Toro Rosso driver caused heavy damage to his STR14 when he spun into a barrier at the exit of the final corner in the final minutes of Saturday morning’s practice session. With qualifying scheduled to begin just two hours later, the Toro Rosso team swiftly realised there would not be enough time to repair his car.“Unfortunately, due to the extensive damage to the monocoque from his FP3 crash, Alex Albon will not be able to take part in qualifying for the Chinese GP,” the team confirmed on social media. Daniil Kvyat will therefore be the team’s only representative in qualifying.
Albon told his team he was “fine” after the crash and apologised for the damage to his car.
As Albon will be unable to set a time within 107% of the fastest time in Q1, it will be up to the stewards to decide whether he can take part in the race. This is likely to be a formality, as Albon was consistently within a similar margin during practice. He set the ninth-fastest time in final practice following his crash.
Therefore just 19 cars will participate in today’s qualifying session and Albon will be one of the five drivers eliminated in Q1.
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Aapje (@aapje)
13th April 2019, 8:00
It will buff out, I’m sure.