The FIA stewards at Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix elected to not take further action on the opening lap incident that curtailed Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon’s races.
Both drivers emerged from their tangle unharmed but triggered a stoppage at the end of the first lap that prompted a 30-minute intervention until the race could resume.
Albon had begun the race on the Soft compound and sensed a chance to overtake Ricciardo as the Australian duelled with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll approaching Turn 3.
But the RB driver failed to notice the Williams coming on the right and squeezed Albon towards the grass, resulting in a minor touch that sent the pair towards the barrier.
However, the stewards considered that it was a “racing incident” and opted to not hit either of the drivers involved with a grid drop for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Race Control considered that “the explanations of both drivers were aligned as to the facts of the incident” and accordingly categorized it as a classic opening lap incident.
“On the approach to turn three, the driver of car three [Ricciardo] noticed car 18 [Stroll] on his left and stated that he wanted to give that car sufficient room,” the verdict read.
“He stated that he then looked to the apex of turn three. He did not see car 23 [Albon] on his right.
“The driver of car 23 stated that he thought he could overtake car three on the outside, into turn three, but then suddenly realised that car three had not seen him, applied the brakes but could not avoid the contact with car three,” it concluded.
Williams later confirmed it has sent Albon’s damaged chassis back to its Grove base to have repairs completed in time for the next round in China in a fortnight’s time.
