Alex Albon explains what led to his crash in the 2023 F1 Australian GP

Alex Albon recently explained his shunt in the 2023 F1 Australian GP, which forced him to retire the car early in the race. The Thai driver had a rollercoaster of a race weekend at Albert Park.

He had an amazing qualifying session where he kept clocking surprisingly fast laps and started the race in eighth. Unfortunately, he lost control in turn six and crashed into the barriers, bringing out the safety car and eventually the red flag.

Speaking to the media, Alex Albon explained how it was quite strange but he deciphered the issue. He summed up the lap by explaining how he went through turn five slightly quicker than the lap before the crash. This caused the left rear tire to heat up more when he went into turn six. Apparently, this was the reason why he slid off the track.

The Williams driver said:

"It was a bit of a strange one if I'm honest. I think I know why [it happened]: I went through the corner slower than I did on the lap [before], but just went through the previous corner quicker, I went through Turn 5 a little bit quicker and used a bit more exit kerb. The tyre temps spiked a little bit on the left-hand side on that exit kerb and then I went into Turn 6 with a hotter left rear tyre."

Alex Albon concluded by saying that he was angry with himself for making that mistake, especially because the car's performance at Albert Park was brilliant. Furthermore, both he and Logan Sargeant could have scored a few points simply because there were so many cars that retired from the race. He added:

"They are the margins we are driving with, it is my fault and I am angry with myself, it is really disappointing, especially for the team as we had a good car today, and when you look at the results, there's a few DNFs in there, and we could have been one of them [teams scoring points]."

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Alex Albon explains the method to preserve Pirelli tires to do a fast lap

After a splendid qualifying session in the 2023 F1 Australian GP, Alex Albon explained how tricky it is to manage Pirelli tires and get a good lap. He explained how, in certain circumstances, drivers need to drive slowly and consistently in order to clock in a fast lap.

If they push too hard at the start of the lap, they might not have enough grip in the end. Albon explained:

"It's such a strange thing. Since the very beginning of Pirelli tyres, it's a dark art. Sometimes to drive quicker, you have to drive slower. And, if you push the limits too early in the lap, you pay for it at the end, so it's not always that obvious."

The Thai driver has been exceptional in managing his tires in several races. He has even been given a nickname for the way he manages his tires: Tire Whisperer.