Formula 1

Albon and Bearman collide in opening F1 Mexican GP practice

by Josh Suttill
2 min read

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Formula 1's opening Mexican Grand Prix practice session was halted by a bizarre collision between Alex Albon's Williams and Ferrari FP1 stand-in Ollie Bearman.

Just over 20 minutes into FP1, Bearman was letting Albon past him in Mexico's sweeping corners in the middle sector when Albon lost control of the rear of his Williams, spearing into the Ferrari.

That caused major damage to both cars and ended both drivers' sessions on the spot.

Albon blamed Bearman over radio, while Bearman said "He hit me. He hit me...I'm out! I don't know what more I could have done."

It brought 2025 Haas driver Bearman's first FP1 with Ferrari to a disappointing end, having made his FP1 debut at the same track with Haas last year.

The stewards will investigate Bearman and Albon after the session, as well as fellow stand-in Robert Shwartzman for allegedly overtaking under yellow flags.

FP1 resumed once the cars and debris was cleared, with 25 minutes on the clock.

The Race says

Scott Mitchell-Malm

Albon will blame that on dirty air and the Ferrari not getting out of the way quickly enough. It’s a tough one to judge. It looks more like Albon’s just unsettled the car over the inside kerb and lost the rear (then hit the Ferrari while trying to gather it up).

With the sensitivities of the car, and the distraction of the Ferrari ahead at the corner exit, maybe Bearman’s presence did play a part in the start of the accident. But that’s still primarily Albon’s error, and it comes at a tricky time.

He’s not asserted himself over stand-in Williams driver Franco Colapinto anything like he had against Colapinto’s predecessors Logan Sargeant and Nicholas Latifi.

This weekend he is even using Colapinto’s set-up to see if it resolves some balance issues from last week in Austin, where Albon struggled more with rear locking.

A big shunt with a lot of damage, and a questionable error on his part, is not how Albon needed this weekend to begin.

It wasn't the only stoppage as FP1 was halted after less than five minutes when a piece of debris on the racing line at Turn 1 necessitated a red flag - Mercedes stand-in Kimi Antonelli ran over the debris but got back on track when the session resumed five minutes later.

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