The Japanese Grand Prix was red-flagged on the first lap after a collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon damaged a barrier.
The pair were able to climb out of their cars unaided but the tyre barrier they hit at turn three was extensively damaged.Albon, who started on the soft tyre compound, was attempting to pass Ricciardo around the outside of turn three when the pair made contact. Ricciardo had got away slowly after starting on the medium tyre compound and had already lost places to others on softs.
The stewards announced they will investigation the collision between the pair after the race.
The race was red-flagged shortly after the crash and the field returned to the pit lane. The race is due to restart at 2:32pm local time – over half an hour after the original start.
A standing start will be used to resume the race. The race director has confirmed cars will take up the order they were in when they reached the end of the first sector of the lap.
Max Verstappen will therefore retain his advantage from pole position, followed by Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all in their original starting positions. The first driver who has gained places between the two starts is Nico Hulkenberg, who passed the RB pair off the line and will restart from 10th place.
This decision is different to that used at the final restart of the Australian Grand Prix last year. On that occasion the race director chose to revert to the previous grid order, which among other changes restored Alonso to third place after he’d been hit by Sainz. The decision was challenged after the race by Haas, but the stewards backed the race director.
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Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
7th April 2024, 6:34
Seat belts saved their lives.
Nick T.
7th April 2024, 8:19
Not sure why Albon thought it’d be a good idea to be on the outside there in DR’s blindspot. Pretty sure Daniel moved to open up the corner there because he didn’t think someone would try to go three-wide into there on his outside.
SteveP
7th April 2024, 9:10
He had turned his head to look the other way, so that particular “blind spot” was basically the back of his head.
Still, this may give Albon a chance to try the “spare” chassis – you know, the one that Williams still don’t have because they spent a lot of time repairing the one he broke at the last race instead of finishing the spare.
Nick T.
7th April 2024, 9:39
I Vow…les they’ll have a spare chassis by round 10. Not sure it even matters since the new chassis is such a dud.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th April 2024, 3:34
As soon as this happened I said: williams’ chances of scoring points this race are over, and I wasn’t wrong, sargeant even decided to make a mistake in the end because he wasn’t happy both alpines were behind him, and they obliged.