Alex Albon has stated his collision with team-mate Carlos Sainz at the Dutch Grand Prix was not of “Verstappen-Ricciardo” significance.
Williams endured a challenging weekend at Zandvoort and was lacking pace throughout the weekend.
In the latter stages of the race, Sainz and Albon were running in 15th and 16th respecitvely, with Albon chasing on much fresher tyres.
As the Thai driver attacked into Turn 1, Sainz locked up and hit the side of the sister car, eliminating Albon from the race.
While frustrated with the incident, Albon downplayed its significance and insisted it was not comparable to the infamous clash between Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“It's not a Verstappen/Ricciardo incident, it's less serious than that,” Albon told media including RacingNews365.
“It happens. I was on better tyres than him at that stage in the race. It's on him, if I'm being totally honest.
“He locked up, I saw him lock up, so I immediately tried to follow him in a straight line.
“But we made contact, and my floor was pretty damaged, so we had to box.”
Article continues below.
Sainz was deemed the guilty party in the collision by the F1 stewards and was subsequently handed a 10-second time penalty.
Accepting the punishment, the Spaniard stated he was caught out by a bump at the first corner.
“No, a fair penalty,” Sainz said. “I had a bit of a surprise when I went to defend.
“I had really worn, hard tyres, struggling a lot with the car, with the pace all race.
“And when I went to brake on the inside, there was a massive bump on the inside of Turn 1.
“The further you are in the inside, the bigger it gets. I just hit it with the plank. I had the front tyres in the air, and as soon as I touched the brake, I locked up.
“I took Alex with me, which is the worst possible outcome for that race because it's not like we were fighting for anything big.
“But honestly, it caught me so much by surprise. Apologies to him because it's the last thing I wanted.”
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Nick Golding and Samuel Coop as they look back on last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix! The duo discuss Max Verstappen's massive crash, if Lando Norris' title defence dream is alive and team orders starting to be used.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!