Franco Colapinto beat Alex Albon by qualifying for Q2, while the Thai driver set the 18th fastest time in qualifying in Las Vegas. But the young Argentinian from Williams F1 hit the wall in the fast corner leading to the final straight of the circuit, and he sent his FW46 into an extremely violent swerve.
The car lifted up and saw its right side almost completely torn off. The driver escaped alone but was checked at the medical center, and the violence of the shock means that he does not yet have the green light from the doctors to race.
“During qualifying, Franco suffered a significant impact of more than 50G, requiring a medical examination” can we read in a press release from Williams. “An impact of this magnitude is obviously significant and severe.”
“He will need to be examined again tomorrow before we know if he is fit to race. Franco's health is all that matters and we are happy that he is otherwise well. We will keep you posted on developments situation as soon as possible.”
Albon saw one of his laps canceled, and he thinks he had more than enough pace to get through Q1, which is not without frustrating him: “We could have passed easily.”
“I went out on the track, there were a lot of cars warming the tires and I should have gone faster to prepare my tires. In the first three corners I was already six or seven tenths slower than my previous lap, and it was over from the start.”
Albon has not yet lost hope of achieving a good result in his race tomorrow: “I'm optimistic, I think it will be fine. But I'm missing track time so it won't be easy.”
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