What Alex Albon left ‘on the table’ with Williams driver’s ‘expensive’ Sao Paulo GP crash

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Williams endured a difficult weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after neither Franco Colapinto or Alex Albon saw the chequered flag.

The rain over the weekend caused qualifying to be moved from Saturday to Sunday morning before the Grand Prix.

This put added pressure on the drivers to not crash and force their mechanics into repairing the cars, risking not starting the race.

Albon was incredibly fast in qualifying and made it into Q3 before crashing at the Senna S and destroying his Williams.

His teammate Colapinto also hit the wall in qualifying and Williams would only get the Argentinian’s car ready in time for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Alex Jacques explained on the F1 Nation podcast that Albon, in particular, missed out on an excellent result in Brazil due to his incident.

Alex Jacques feels Alex Albon missed out on a podium finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Albon didn’t make the start of the race after he crashed in qualifying, which didn’t allow him to start from seventh place.

The Thai driver has been very reliable this season as Williams have become more of an all-rounder. Rather than focusing on top speed, they are quicker at a wider range of tracks, although the Williams car was stiff in Brazil.

He led the team while Logan Sargeant struggled and Albon has pushed on as Colapinto puts significantly more pressure on him than the American ever could.

Max Verstappen took a superb victory ahead of the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly as others made errors.

The Alpine drivers took a haul of points which moved the team up to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with three rounds to go.

Jacques explained that he feels Albon also had the potential to stand on the Sao Paulo GP podium for the first time while at Williams before crashing in qualifying.

READ MORE: Williams sent ‘won’t survive’ warning by Juan Pablo Montoya as Franco Colapinto decision looms

He said: “It couldn’t have been more expensive. Three crashes in a day. Alex Albon with no prospect came out of qualifying and saying, ‘I’m not going to take the start, that’s too big a crash’. The disappointment is that I think for Alex, I think it was too difficult for Franco to learn how to manipulate that car in the rain today.

“But Alex’s first run in qualifying was outstanding, P2 before he dropped it into the wall. He could have had what Pierre and Esteban have had today. That was on the table for them.”

Alex Albon will be pushed by Carlos Sainz next season

Albon will partner Carlos Sainz next season as the Spaniard is moving from Ferrari and joining Williams for 2025.

The British team have been on an upward trajectory in recent years and scoring points on a more regular basis than before.

Sainz should help push the team forward, using all his race-winning experience from four seasons at Ferrari.

He will provide a big challenge for Albon who has comfortably beaten his teammates since joining Williams at the start of 2022.