Formula 1 rookie Alexander Albon had a tough day at the office in his new job as he crashed his Toro Rosso car in the first Free Practice session of the 2019 Australian Grand Prix weekend.
After losing control of the car the Thai-British driver clattered the wall, damaging the STR-14 and losing the front wing in the process.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1106400586415640576
Despite the unfortunate incident he managed to record a total of 21 laps, good enough for thirteenth place in the standings.
The second session saw a longer run as the team went through race simulation programmes with 44 laps. While Albon improved on his time from the morning session, his position dropped to seventeenth.
“I’m still getting used to the timetable of an F1 weekend as well as to the car and the track.” said Albon. “This circuit isn’t easy, but I think our pace looks good so far and I’m slowly building up confidence.
“I took it a bit easier after the spin in Free Practice 1 and once I got back up to speed we went on with the programme, trying a few more things on the car.
“Timesheet apart, we’re looking pretty strong in a very tight midfield and now it’s up to us to do our homework tonight to improve tomorrow.”
Team-mate Daniil Kvyat finished seventh and eleventh in the two sessions as he participated in his first race weekend since the 2017 United States Grand Prix.
