Groundhog clash damage rules Albon out of F1 sprint qualifying

Alex Albon’s collision with a groundhog in practice caused enough damage to his Williams to force him to miss sprint qualifying later on Friday. The Williams driver was exiting the Turn 6-7 chicane as the animal ran across the track. As Albon followed the natural line close to the edge of the track, striking the animal with the corner of his car’s front wing sent Albon slightly wider off-line and hard into the wall on the outside. It caused extensive damage to the left-hand side of the car, which gradually slid to the inside of the circuit and stopped just short of the right-hand side barriers.But the damage was even worse than first realised once the car was recovered to Williams. Around 20 minutes before sprint qualifying, Williams said: “Following t …