Albon highlights relief after witnessing 'aggressive' Verstappen-Hamilton clash

Alex Albon has revealed his relief at not being involved in the Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton clash at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

On lap 63 at the Hungaroring, Albon was lapped in the Williams by Hamilton and Verstappen who were battling into Turn 1 over third place. 

Verstappen locked up and slid wide, colliding with the right-front of Hamilton and being tipped into the air, going onto finish fifth on a frustrating day for the Dutchman. 

The stewards then investigated Verstappen for causing a collision, but ultimately cleared him of further sanction after finding that they felt Hamilton could have done more to avoid the clash. 

Reflecting on the front-row seat to the latest clash between the 2021 title rivals, Albon has revealed he was thankful he was not involved in any way.

"Don't be the creator of something that happens straight away," Albon told media including RacingNews365 when asked for his view of the incident. 

"Then it happened and I was like: 'I hope I wasn't to blame for that one'. 

"Both were aggressive, Max was being aggressive with his move, but then at the same time, I do think there was an element of squeezing, but it was pretty close. 

"The call in the end was the right call from the stewards, I think it was just a racing incident, and it always is when they're together, when it is not?

"While they were close to each other, I didn't realise they would be that close to each other, I didn't realise it was overtaking close."

Verstappen's sim racing

Albon also touched on Verstappen's sim racing that kept him up to 3am on the morning of the race, with motorsport advisor Helmut Marko hinting that such activities will cease going forward. 

"Every driver has their own technique or style approach to racing, some drivers want to crunch the data, others perform better when they're more free-minded," he said. 

"Max may be towards the [latter] side of things, he is a pretty relaxed individual, I remember in 2021 when he was fighting for the title, he was still impressively relaxed. 

"I wouldn't have been as relaxed as him, but it is not my place to say, but I don't really see much of an issue with what he does behind the scenes."