Alex Albon reveals 'dangerous' radio situation despite 'peaceful' Las Vegas GP

Alex Albon has explained how a broken radio led to a "dangerous" yet "peaceful" Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Williams confirmed early on that it had "issues with radio communications" due to it failing on Albon's laps to the grid. Despite its attempts to reinstate it, it had to resort to good old-fashioned pit boards to relay messages to him.

It made for an interesting nighttime experience for Albon, who was involved in an early incident that resulted in damage to his car. 

Given the various other incidents that took place in the race, and with no way of knowing what was occurring around him, the Thai-British driver struggled throughout.

En route, Albon collected a five-second time penalty at one stage for running into the back of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. Soon after serving the punishment at his first stop, Williams opted to retire the car as it did not want to "risk any safety issues", according to team principal James Vowles.

Reflecting on his race with the media, including RacingNews365, Albon said: "We didn't have radio at any point in the race, so throwback, kind of old-school stuff, pit boards out.

"It was a shame because after lap one, 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."

Albon can appreciate why he was forced to retire with 15 laps remaining.

"If you think about it, with no radio, there was no awareness of blue flags, and all kinds of things can happen," he said.

"Even just little things like safety cars and debris on the track, I was having to discover it myself, and you can imagine, it's not ideal on a track like Vegas. It's a bit dangerous.

"So we cut it short, which is frustrating, because it's clearly an opportunity missed. We were very strong in terms of pace, and even in the race, when I had clear air, I was very quick."

The only minor upside for Albon was that he had no one in his ear throughout his eventful 35 laps, making for a serene time.

Revealing what was shown to him on the pit boards, he said: "Lap number, when to box, and then a version of box because you've got a penalty, to serve my five seconds.

"Like I said, old school. It was peaceful out there."