Alex Albon is definitely going through a ‘frustrating’ phase with Williams right now. Their competitors have made more ground with their 2024 car than James Vowles & Co. have managed to. Moreover, the Thai racer’s FP1 crash in Melbourne today ruled him out of FP2. This happened when Alex Albon brought out the red flags during FP1 for the Australian Grand Prix after a heavy crash at the Albert Park Circuit.

Moreover, it has hampered the team’s chances of another good data collection attempt. But owing to this, Albon’s statement from an interview yesterday about him potentially replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes has gone under the radar.

With his shock Ferrari move announcement in February, Lewis Hamilton pushed the silly season into overdrive. His teammate, George Russell, even said that he saw messages from various drivers popping up on Toto Wolff’s phone. While we don’t know if Alex Albon was one of them, top Sky Sports analysts like Naomi Schiff and F1 Champion Damon Hill were confident of his chances at replacing Hamilton in 2025.

This could be for two reasons. Firstly, in 2023, the Williams racer single-handedly helped his team secure their best championship finish in the last six years. Secondly, Williams is considered to be a junior team for Mercedes like VCARB is to Red Bull.

So, when Alex Albon was asked about these rumors in an interview ahead of the Australian GP, he gave a definitive answer, “There are a few seats going around right now,” Albon told ‘The Project’. “There’s a lot going on from my side. My focus is on the team (Williams). So all that noise is just noise. It’s great to hear it because it just means that the job I have been doing over the last year or so has been positive and people have been paying attention to it.”

So, for now, Albon has diplomatically silenced the rumors to focus on the ongoing race weekend at Albert Park. But the FP1 crash has made things go from bad to worse.

Alex Albon’s FP1 Crash in Melbourne destroys FW46 Chassis

With 20 minutes left to go in FP1 for the Australian Grand Prix, Alex Albon bottomed out in Turn 7 on a quick lap which led to him crashing into the wall on the right-hand side of the track before bouncing off it to hit the left-hand side walls. While he came out uninjured, the car suffered quite some damage.

In an earlier statement, Williams seemed sure that they wouldn’t have to change his FW46’s chassis. However, as per Autosport, they now need a chassis change, but the team has no spare one left. So, Williams have only 1 car for the race and that is Logan Sargeant’s. Albon could now be forced to take his teammate’s car for the rest of the weekend.

Read More: Alex Albon’s Red Bull Seat Much More Likely with Thai Investors Coming into Play

That crash has caused quite some problems for Team Principal James Vowles to sort out before qualifying tomorrow. Hopefully, they can get it done in time so that we get to experience a thrilling race weekend at Albert Park.