Austrian GP
After Guanyu Zhou, Alexander Albon was the second driver to suffer a serious accident at Silverstone. However, the Williams driver feels ready for the race in Austria. His mechanics repaired the car in a short time. On top of that there are other upgrades.
The British Grand Prix was over for Alexander Albon after a good 200 meters. The Thai was involved in an accident at the start through no fault of his own, and even had to go to the hospital afterwards. In the turmoil at the start, Albon prevented himself from driving into another car. His bad luck was that Sebastian Vettel hit him from behind and sent him into the pit wall. Vettel himself had too little time to slow down or evade sufficiently.
After the Aston Martin hit, the 26-year-old was only a passenger in his Williams. Or as Albon himself puts it. "I was like a pinball hit by other cars." The car with starting number 23 took several hits. And with him the driver, who was defenseless. The odyssey ended in the run-off zone of the first corner. Without a front wing and with a completely destroyed front suspension.
Barbecue after hospital
Albon's accident had nothing to do with Alfa driver Guanyu Zhou's. These were separate incidents. After the Silverstone race, the two accident drivers were still in contact on Sunday evening. "I texted him to see how he was doing," Zhou said. Albon was relieved that the Chinese survived his horror crash without major injuries. "Guanyu had a far worse accident than myself."
Unlike Albon, the Alfa driver didn't have to go to the hospital. Zhou was released after an examination at the circuit's medical center. Albon flew to the clinic in a helicopter. In the "Coventry Hospital" the doctors carried out security checks. He later shared a photo of himself in bed on social media, saying he was fine. He didn't have to stay the night. Albon celebrated the dismissal on Sunday evening with a small barbecue party.
Luckily Albon didn't get a serious injury either. First you had to worry about his right hand, which he apparently had on the steering wheel when he hit the wall. "I feel good," reported Albon on Thursday before the race in Austria. "On the Monday after Silverstone I was a bit bruised. I feel better physically every day. I think I'll be at 100 percent again by Friday."
Williams update complete
There is more good news from the team. Williams mastered the logistical and technical challenge of repairing the accident car or patching it up with spare parts. "Fortunately, I hit it relatively head-on. The important parts of the upgrade package were all on the side. There was only minor damage, which luckily we were able to repair."
At first it wasn't certain whether the B version would also be used in Spielberg. Now Albon confirmed that even more is possible: "In Silverstone we had about 80 percent of our big upgrade together. For Austria we have the package complete. I can only thank my mechanics."
For Albon and Williams in Spielberg it will be about getting to know and tuning the completely rebuilt FW44 better. There isn't much time left. Only one training session takes place on Friday before qualifying begins in the evening.
