The video of the contact between the Cadillac driver and the Williams driver at the final chicane in Suzuka
In the final minutes of FP1, an incident nearly complicated the days for Cadillac and Williams. Sergio Perez and Alexander Albon made contact at the final corner, the Casio Triangle Chicane, which was also the site of the controversial collision between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1989.
In this case, the Thai driver tried to make an inside move on the Mexican driver, who closed the line without noticing the Williams. Albon spun, while Perez cut the chicane, leaving numerous debris—mostly from the American team’s MAC-26—on the track, forcing the Mexican driver to miss the first part of FP2.
The stewards summoned Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez at the end of FP1 to clarify the causes of the incident, and after the meeting they decided not to penalize either driver.
In fact, the contact was assessed as a misunderstanding between the two drivers, with Perez confirming that his “virtual mirror,” the system that warns him of faster cars approaching, was not working and that he had received no communication from the Cadillac team, being surprised by the rapid approach of Albon’s Williams, which was on an out-lap.
For his part, Albon stated that he saw Sergio Perez’s Cadillac move off the ideal racing line to give him space, and so he tried to pass on the inside. After determining that it was a misunderstanding, compounded by the lack of communication from the Cadillac team, the stewards decided not to impose any penalties on the drivers.
Contact between Perez and Albon in FP1: the official statement from Race Control
Finally, here is the official statement released by Race Control at the end of the meeting with the drivers: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 23 (Alexander Albon), the driver of Car 11
(Sergio Perez), team representatives and reviewed video, team radio and in-car
video evidence.
The Driver of Car 11 explained that he was on a race-run lap and was about to
commence another. He had seen Car 23 some distance behind when he had exited
turn 14. Car 23 was on an out lap and gained significanlly on Car 11 through turn 15
and on the approach to turn 16. Car 23 moved to overtake Car 11 on the inside at
turn 16 and a collision occurred.
The Driver of Car 11 said that he did not see Car 23, his virtual mirror was not working and he had not received any warning from his team of Car 23’s approach. This was confirmed by his team radio. The team explained that they had assumed that Car 23 would hold position behind Car 11 and had not noticed the extent to which Car 23 had gained on Car 11 and for that reason did not warn the Driver of Car 11.
The Driver of Car 23 said that he believed from the wide line taken by Car 11 at the entry to turn 16 that Car 11 was letting him through. Both Drivers were surprised by the closing speeds. The collision was therefore the result of a misunderstanding contributed to by a lack of communication by the team to the Driver of Car 11. Both Drivers accepted that neither of them was wholly or predominatly to blame for it
The Stewards therefore determined to take no further
action.”
PHOTO: F1.com
