Albon blames balance struggles with Red Bull for British GP Q2 exit
Alex Albon feels balance struggles dashed his hopes of a strong showing in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, as the Red Bull driver failed to escape from Q2

Following an encouraging start to Friday practice as new parts helped his RB16 feel more hooked up, the Thai driver had been put on the backfoot after suffering a hefty crash at Stowe in FP2 that forced a car rebuild overnight.
Having lost further track time on Saturday morning due to an electric problem in final practice, Albon never felt on top of things and was at a loss to explain why he failed to get through to Q3 after a late attempt on softs.
He ended up only setting the 12th best time, but will get a free choice of tyre compounds for the start of the race.
"We [first] tried the mediums, it wasn't a terrible lap, but it wasn't an amazing lap," Albon said. "I had a couple of mistakes in the lap, so I knew we could go quicker.
"Obviously at that point it's kind of, do you risk it and go again on the mediums or you try to play safe on the softs? We went safe on the softs.
"To be honest, I can't explain the last run too much. I feel like I just didn't extract the lap and that was it. I missed out. Obviously it wasn't by much, but at the same time definitely we should have been a bit higher up than we were."

Asked by Autosport if his struggles were a legacy of missed track, time, Albon said: "Yeah, I mean it definitely didn't help. Obviously it's a bit notorious Silverstone for the wind, but I don't want to make any excuses of course.
"It's tricky out there. And, yeah, we obviously missed a bit of track time coming into qualifying, which would have been pretty useful obviously.
"Friday went pretty well. I mean obviously we had the crash, but the pace was strong so I was pretty positive going into today. But I just struggled: just struggled a bit with the change of balance and extracting the most out of it."
While Albon had a difficult day, team-mate Max Verstappen qualified third - albeit more than one second adrift of pole position man Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes recorded a dominant front row lockout.

Russell hit with five-place grid penalty for F1's British GP
Norris: Stopping overdriving helped claim P5 grid spot for British GP

Latest news
Las Vegas approves plan to shut Strip for F1 race until 2032
Officials in Las Vegas have approved a plan to shut the Strip for the Formula 1 grand prix for the next 10 years as they eye a “lifetime in partnership.”
Porsche boss “as surprised as anyone” over Gulf-Williams F1 social media frenzy
Porsche’s head of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach found it “funny” that streamlining its Instagram channels caused a Formula 1 social media speculation frenzy last month.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
Why Alfa Romeo has kept its blade roll hoop on 2023 F1 car
The Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team has retained its unique blade roll hoop for the C43 but designed it to withstand load tests that the FIA will introduce in 2024.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
How the last Sauber-built Alfa offers F1 2023 evolution clues
Alfa Romeo has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal a new car for 2023, in addition to a fresh livery. This offered a first look at some of the understated changes produced by the revised regulations, along with points of convergence in the second year of the ground effect rules
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.