Japanese GP red-flagged as Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon in ‘nasty crash’ on opening lap | F1 | Sport

Ricciardo was attempting to avoid the Aston Martin car of Lance Stroll at the race start, and Albon attempted to make it three-wide on the run into Turn Three.

Not knowing that the Williams driver was on his outside, Ricciardo jolted to the right, sending both himself and Albon into the outside tyre barrier with what Sky Sports F1‘s Anthony Davidson described as a « nasty crash ».

Offering his assessment of the incident, Davidson said: « I think Ricciardo reacts to Stroll on his lefthand side. That’s unfortunate. It wasn’t Albon’s fault and it wasn’t Ricciardo’s.

« Ricciardo is going for the racing line and three into one doesn’t really go. It’s a racing incident and wrong place, wrong time for Albon. »

Adding further insight, former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins added: « Ricciardo was looking to his left and more concerned about a car coming up to his left, so that’s why he wasn’t aware of Albon. »

This crash was nothing short of a disaster for both drivers, but particularly for the Williams team, who now face a lengthy repair job ahead of a Chinese Grand Prix for which they will once again be without a spare chassis.

The Grove-based team were forced to field just a single car in Melbourne two weeks ago after Albon crashed heavily during FP1. Ultimately, Logan Sargeant was sacrificed to allow the Thai-British driver to race.

For Ricciardo, this represents a major missed opportunity to get one over on his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who has outshone the popular Aussie consistently in 2024.

The 34-year-old entered the campaign hoping to put his name at the forefront of the Red Bull second-seat debate but is now more focused on keeping hold of his seat with VCARB.