Albon 'out' of Brazilian GP after massive qualifying crash

Alex Albon has said there is "no way" he will be able to compete in the São Paulo Grand Prix following a heavy qualifying crash.

Albon destroyed his Williams after sliding off the track on the high-speed approach into Turn 1. Clipping the edge of the track, the car was forced into a spin that culminated in a hard hit into a barrier.

Bouncing back off and coming to rest, it was clear the Williams had sustained considerable damage. In addition, team-mate Franco Colapinto had earlier crashed in Q1, adding to the agony for the team.

Asked on Viaplay as to how bad the damage was to his car, Albon replied: "I'm out, for sure. There's no way."

Pressed on whether he would race, Albon succinctly said: "There's no way."

At that stage, Albon had set the second-fastest time in Q3 in the terrible conditions that had dominated throughout a qualifying session that had started the earliest in F1 history - 7.30am local time - after the postponement from Saturday.

Albon's crash was the fifth across the three sessions. Alongside himself and Colapinto, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were also involved in incidents.

At present, Albon is set to start from seventh on the grid.