Horner claims Albon is blameless in FP1 crash in Brazil

After another crash for Alexander Albon since his promotion to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, team principal Christian Horner has come out to defend his rookie driver, claiming the Thai was not to blame for his FP1 crash in Brazil due to the track conditions.

Interlagos was still wet once running in FP1 started, and as the track dried up, Albon was one of the first drivers to brave the track on slick tyres. Driving on the soft compound, the C3, the 24-year-old ran wide on the damp track and became a passenger as he went through the grass and into the barrier. 

A low-speed impact, but enough to break the suspension on his RB15, although Red Bull mechanics fixed the car in time for FP2, in which he finished ninth.

When quizzed about his driver's incident, Horner took responsibility as he thinks it was too early to go out on slick tyres in hindsight.

"I think today you can't put on Alex's account," the Brit told Autosport.

"Maybe we were a little bit too optimistic getting out there trying to get him laps in on a track that was still pretty damp in the middle sector.

"And Max he had a moment at Turn 1 and Turn 2, there were other cars as well running wide," he said in reference to Max Verstappen also running wide but just about managing to keep his car out of the wall.

I don't think today's [incident], we can blame that on Alex.

"He's had a few little incidents this year, thankfully they've all been on Fridays and Saturday mornings, and when it's come to it in qualifying and the race he's absolutely delivered."