Williams reveals the cause of Albon brake disc explosion

Williams performance boss Dave Robson has revealed the intriguing cause of the explosion in Alexander Albon’s brake disc during qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Albon failed to time the lap in Q1. His right rear brake caught fire which led to the Piratella. Eventually, the disc brakes in Albon’s car exploded. The incident is remarkably similar to that suffered by teammate Nicholas Latifi during pre-season winter testing, although the team confirmed that the two explosions were caused by different problems.

wrong setting

“Alex had a braking problem due to the wrong shift position when switching to dry weather tires,” explains Robson. The brake discs died due to the wrong setting. In the end, the result was that Albon was the last to start the sprint. The former Red Bull driver also did so in Australia and there he managed to get a point with a separate strategy.

Unfortunately

It was frightening to the driver himself, he simply did not know what the damage was. “It was a little scary,” Albon explains. He continues, “That’s not where you want to lose the brakes, but something was clearly wrong.” The 26-year-old regrets qualifying but doesn’t give up. “It’s a shame it ended this way, but it’s just one of those things that can happen,” he concluded.