Albon points to Williams handling issue after Baku crash

Albon hit the barrier on lap 30 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after qualifying 13th for Williams. It was his third retirement of the season.

Speaking to media after the race, Albon said he had braked a little later and encountered a strong gust of wind. He expected to run wide, but not to hit the wall. He also pointed to a tendency for his car to lift a front wheel, which he said makes a front-wheel lock-up particularly costly. In his view, braking a few metres later and the gust may have pushed the car beyond what it could tolerate.

RacingNews365 describes that front-wheel unloading or lifting as ‘three-wheeling’ and reports that it has troubled the FW48 since pre-season despite set-up changes. Albon said the team would examine the data and acknowledged that he might have to take responsibility for the crash.

The impact ended Albon’s race, but he stopped short of pinning it on a single cause. His account links the incident to both his braking and a handling problem he says Williams has encountered before.