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Alex Albon does not think it was right to start Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix at its scheduled time at all, calling it “the worst conditions I’ve experienced in my racing career”.
The weather was fine in build-up to Sunday’s race at Suzuka, F1’s first in Japan since 2019, but rain started to fall in hour before the timetabled start.
By the time the drivers were on-track for their initial reconnaissance laps it was fully wet, although intermediates were still appropriate.
However, as the rain continued, conditions deteriorated further and when the race started a chaotic opening lap ensued, culminating in Carlos Sainz aquaplaning and crashing into the wall.
The race was then put under safety car before being red-flagged. An attempt to restart it is being made two hours later.
Albon, who suffered a confusing retirement halfway round the first lap, said he “couldn’t see more than 10 metres around me”.
“That was the worst conditions I’ve experienced in my racing career,” he told The Race.
“I’m very surprised that we went to the start.
“I think everyone was keen to get the race started. I don’t think we should have started the race.”
Albon had contact with Kevin Magnussen on that first lap but said “I didn’t see him at all”.
The Williams driver described how he was desperately searching for reference points around the track as visibility was so poor.
“I couldn’t see anything in front of me, I was looking in the corner of my eye, seeing where the white lines were, knowing that the track was somewhere in front of me but not being able to tell,” Albon said.
“I was kind of like a pinball just going from track edge to track edge, trying to keep the car on the track and looking for a sign, a fence, something, a braking marker to kind of understand where i was on the circuit.
“I’ve had that experience before in junior levels, but I’ve never had it that bad.
“Quite scary and I’m very thankful nobody got injured.”
When Sainz was asked by The Race what he thought of the decision to start the grand prix and how conditions had changed from the laps to the grip, Sainz replied: “Laps to grid there was very poor visibility.
“The track was in good conditions for inters and doing a race. But very poor visibility for a race start.
“I talked to a few drivers who were starting 10th, 11th, around that area and they knew they were going to see nothing at the start.
“We saw that it kept raining at the race start, so we’re all looking at each other like ‘we’re all going to be on inters and there’s going to be zero visibility’ and probably more aquaplaning.”
The Race understands that the drivers feel there was pressure to start the race on time given the threat of the rain getting worse.
They believe that stakeholders wanted to avoid a repeat of last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, in which no racing laps were completed.
“It’s tricky, I think they did their best to get it underway,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said on Sky Sports F1.
“Visibility is just horrendous, even Max [Verstappen, race leader] at the front is struggling to see so how anyone can see anything at all is a difficult one.
“It’s something we need to look at for future years, the asphalt used, the drainage, it’s the standing water that causes the issues. That’s the big issue now.
“Rivers across the circuit, you get this aquaplaning where the car is simply lifted up and the driver has no control over it.”
The safety car was deployed for Sainz’s crash but Pierre Gasly, blinded by the spray, ploughed into an advertising board the Ferrari’s accident had brought onto the track.
Before the race was red-flagged a lap later, a recovery vehicle was sent onto the track to retrieve the Ferrari and was passed by the rest of the cars left running.
This has been slated by several drivers who believe there was no excuse for that in those conditions, even though it may be normal procedure when the track is dry and it is safer.
