Alex Albon has opened up on the frustration behind his tense team radio message during a rain-lashed Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying session.
As the team were urgently feeding him information about a yellow flag and the chequered flag cut-off, Albon was on edge.
The Anglo-Thai driver’s frustration continued as he made late contact with the wall exiting Turn 14, damaging his Williams and eliminating him from Q1.
In the moments after, he emphasised over team radio, “I’m out. Too much talking!”
Following the session, Albon explained why he harboured such frustration with his race engineer, James Urwin.
“It was just too much at once,” he explained to media including Motorsport Week.
“There was a yellow flag with [Oliver] Bearman, and we had a five-second cut-off to make the next lap.
“Throughout the whole of the back straight and through the last corners, we were talking non-stop – but at the same time you’re trying to focus in these kinds of conditions. It was annoying.”
Frustrations on the conditions
Albon’s exasperation stemmed from a place of concern over the conditions. Heavy rain persisted throughout the entirety of Friday, leading to treacherous conditions.
“I didn’t do a lap without a car being a second or two in front of me, so it was super sketchy,” he said.
“I think in the end, I had one clean lap, so I kind of had to make it count. It was my only clean lap, so I didn’t really have any rhythm at all. It was OK.”
Albon admitted that while the extreme Wets performed decently, the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as a whole remained borderline undriveable in the opening session.
“Not bad though,” he said when asked about the tyres.
“I’m surprised we were driving, to be honest, in many ways. The aquaplaning into Turn 14 was incredible.”
Albon suggested the session may have benefited from an intervention.
“I think it could have been red-flagged, and we could have gone again a little bit later and stopped maybe some of the randomness of the aquaplaning,” he added.
“I think they could see that cars were aquaplaning and maybe could have done something about it a bit earlier, but at the same time, I think it was okay.”
Albon explained the track-specific conditions that allowed the drivers to push the limit on the Wet compound, compared to other circuits on the calendar.
“It’s okay. The reason why the Wet works is because there are not any long, high-speed corners to damage it,” he elucidated.
“So it works well. I think you saw it work well in Canada a few years ago as well. These tracks where it’s just straight-line braking and accelerating, it’s good.”
However, even with these advantages, Albon believed there was still a level of unpredictability for the drivers.
“But it was still, at least, I think everyone runs different ride heights, so you never know for sure, but it was still on the limit for sure.”
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