Alex Albon explained how a loss of radio transmission led to additional problems in what transpired to be a miserable Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Anglo-Thai driver endured a difficult evening in Nevada, beginning with a starting procedure infringement, followed by hitting Lewis Hamilton at Turn 14.
For that, Albon received a time penalty, and with no progress being made, the decision was taken for him to park the FW47 and call the day done.
Before his contact with Hamilton, Albon also had a hairy moment at the start, avoiding, for the most part, the first corner incident that saw Lance Stroll and Gabriel Bortoleto retire.
After the race, Albon explained that the communication blackout contributed to the procedure misdemeanour, given that drivers rely on their engineers for guidance.
“Well we didn’t have radio at any point in the race, so throwback, kind of old school style. Pit boards out,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“But it was a shame because after Lap 1 with all the crashing and everything, there was clearly damage on the car, but it was hard to know if it was safe to drive.
“I know there was damage because I hit the car in front and I think I got hit from the back, so it was a frustrating one.”
When asked to explain the start procedure problem, Albon was not entirely sure. “Yes, maybe I didn’t have the pit limiter on,” he responded.
“We have so many procedures for the start, and it does help when the engineer tells you every single one when you start. I imagine it would have been that.”
Albon explains difficulties of racing without radio
The lack of radio also meant Albon had to pit twice to repair the damaged car after his contact with Hamilton, as the team were unaware of the extent of the damage.
Albon was seen frantically pointing at his front wing when he pitted, but the pit crew were oblivious and merely changed his tyres.
The Anglo-Thai driver returned to the track, but boxed one lap later to finally get the wing fixed.
Albon explained that the amount of information missed out on by no radio was causing him a whole world of problems, and boxed for good on Lap 35.
When asked if it was not really worth continuing, Albon agreed but rued that the pace he still had during the race was ultimately wasted.
“I think so, and if you think about it, no radio, no awareness of blue flags, and all kinds of things can happen,” he elucidated.
“I was even just on little things like Safety Cars and debris on the track, kind of having to discover it myself and all these kind of things. So you can imagine, it’s not ideal.
“On a track like Vegas, it’s a bit dangerous, so yeah, we cut it short.
“Yeah, it’s clearly an opportunity missed this weekend. I think we’ve been very strong in terms of pace, and even in the race when I had clear air, I was very quick, so yeah.”
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