15/03/2019
NEWS STORY
Having made his F1 debut at the pre-season test, it was always expected that Alexander Albon might experience a baptism of fire this weekend, after all, recall Charles Leclerc's difficult start to last season as the youngster began to find his feet.
Involved in a couple of minor incidents in both sessions, the worst was when Albon lost the car at Turn 2, spun and clouted the barriers with the rear of the Toro Rosso and then the front for good measure, bringing about the first red flag of the season.
"The day started off OK," said the Thai driver at close of play, "getting up to speed with the car and the circuit.
"The circuit is really cool, bumpy, that was a surprise," he admitted, "but I enjoyed it. I was growing with confidence, getting better but I was caught out a little bit by the spin at the end of that run.
"I think it was just a little bit of inexperience and the tyres being a bit too hot," he said, "kind of a combination of the two. But nothing really too serious and, in the end, it was quite a good FP1."
Referring to the moment, when he panicked after getting his finger stuck in his headrest, he smiled and said: "I had never had that before. I was going through Turn 11 and when I started to turn into Turn 12 I couldn't open the steering as my left pinky got stuck and I couldn't turn the steering!
"I had to open the left hand and do Turn 12 only with the right hand, so I had to abort the lap after that," he revealed. "It was nothing too serious but it caught me by surprise. I was quite surprised and thinking, 'no, not the wall again' but, in the end it was nothing too serious. Now we just have to see if we can get more clearance for my hands."
Check out our Friday gallery from Melbourne, here.