Albon: Damaged front wing looked like 'a dog had chewed it off'

Alex Albon rued a contact on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that left his front wing in a pitiful state, but the Williams driver reckoned that his race, despite being compromised, was one of his strongest yet in F1.

Albon suffered a contact just after the start with McLaren's Oscar Piastri that destroyed the right endplate of the Williams front wing, which in turn weighed on his performance for the remainder of the afternoon which he concluded outside of the points, down in P12.

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2023 Azerbaijan GP

"It was three-abreast, Oscar had a car to his right, there was Bottas, so that was it really,” explained the Williams driver.

"I don’t think it was anyone’s [fault]. There was a space, I was completely on the left. If I went any more to the left, I was going to hit the inside wall. So I don't think it compromised anyone.

"If anything, most probably, I had damage on my front wing for the rest of the race, and my endplate came off. So I had slightly compromised [aerodynamics].

"It looks like a dog's chewed it off, so we'll have to see if there was any load issues with it.

"It was tricky trying to keep the Haas behind me whilst staying close to Oscar, and not a lot of room for overtaking with the shortened DRS zones.

Despite the commotion at the outset and a pointless result, Albon reckoned that he had enjoyed one of his best race weekends ever in F1.

"We really did maximise this weekend and I think it was personally one of my strongest, especially coming off Australia," he said.

"I think we definitely have more to find with the car, but I think I’m becoming at one with it, so hopefully we can keep this going."

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