Albon released from hospital after British GP F1 crash

Albon was hit from behind by Sebastian Vettel as drivers braked to avoid the collision between Guanyu Zhou and George Russell off the start line.

That contact sent him sharp right into the pit wall and he was then hit by other cars as he bounced back into the middle of the track.

After his car came to a stop he radioed the team to say he was fine, but the medical team took its time in taking him out of the cockpit.

After an initial check in the circuit's medical centre he was sent to Coventry Hospital for a thorough check, before being released later on Sunday night.

In a statement issued just before 8.30pm UK time Williams noted: “We are pleased to confirm that Alex has been given the all clear and has been discharged from Coventry Hospital. Thank you to everyone for your well wishes.”

Albon himself said: “I’m very glad that everyone else involved in the first lap incident is okay. Thank you to all the medical staff at the track and Coventry Hospital. It’s a shame our race ended before it began today, but we are already fully focused on Austria. Bring on the next one.”

Speaking to Autosport, Williams team boss Jost Capito said that Albon had told him that the contact with the pit wall had been the hardest hit.

“He's a bit sore,” said Capito. “We'll see how he is tomorrow. It's a big relief. For me, it's the most important thing, everything else is then not valid anymore.

“His physio went with him to the medical centre, and we had all the updates, and it's fine now. He had some pain in the back, so then you have to be careful.

“You see how important it is to work on the safety again, and again. Alex didn't look that bad, because the hit from behind was never a big deceleration.

"And then you go far and spin, then you get rid of energy, so it’s not stopping. But the pit wall was the hard thing that he felt.

“That's racing. You can't be frustrated with it. The main thing is that the guys are all healthy and walked away, then everything else doesn't matter.”

With Albon given the okay, Williams can now turn its attention to repairing his FW44. At Silverstone he had the only example of the latest update kit after a huge effort to get it ready, and the provisional plan was to also have the upgraded parts for Nicholas Latifi in Austria next weekend.

Asked if the team had the production capacity to update both cars by then Capito said: "We have to see, but we are not in a good position. Maybe some parts are two sets, not everything maybe.

"So we have to see what really the damage is, and where the other parts are.”