Thai driver qualifies for F1 Australian Grand Prix

By The Nation

 

Thai driver Alex Albon

 

Thai driver Alex Albon brushed aside his crash in Friday’s practice to outpace his teammate in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday and earn a place on the starting grid.

 

Sunday’s race will see a Thai flag flying over the grid for the first time in the modern F1 era. Albon, born to a Thai mother and an English father, posted an impressive time of 1m22.636s in qualifying for 13th place on the grid. More impressive still was that the Thai rookie out-qualified his Toro Rosso teammate, Daniil Kvyat, who already has a season in F1 under his belt. Kvyat will start two places behind Albon on the grid in 15th.

 

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a time of 1m20.486s, just ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Third on the grid is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel while Red Bull driver Max Verstappen rounds off the top four. 

 

The race begins on Sunday at 12.10pm Thai time.

 

Provisional starting grid

 

POS    DRIVER    CAR    TIME    GAP

 

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m20.486s    -

 

2    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m20.598s    0.112s

 

3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m21.190s    0.704s

 

4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull/Honda    1m21.320s    0.834s

 

5    Charles Leclerc    Ferrari    1m21.442s    0.956s

 

6    Romain Grosjean    Haas/Ferrari    1m21.826s    1.340s

 

7    Kevin Magnussen    Haas/Ferrari    1m22.099s    1.613s

 

8    Lando Norris    McLaren/Renault    1m22.304s    1.818s

 

9    Kimi Raikkonen    Alfa Romeo/Ferrari    1m22.314s    1.828s

 

10    Sergio Perez    Racing Point/Mercedes    1m22.781s    2.295s

 

11    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m22.562s    -

 

12    Daniel Ricciardo    Renault    1m22.570s    -

 

13    Alexander Albon    Toro Rosso/Honda    1m22.636s    -

 

14    Antonio Giovinazzi    Alfa Romeo/Ferrari    1m22.714s    -

 

15    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso/Honda    1m22.774s    -

 

16    Lance Stroll    Racing Point/Mercedes    1m23.017s    -

 

17    Pierre Gasly    Red Bull/Honda    1m23.020s    -

 

18    Carlos Sainz    McLaren/Renault    1m23.084s    -

 

19    George Russell    Williams/Mercedes    1m24.360s    -

 

20    Robert Kubica    Williams/Mercedes    1m26.067s    -

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/sports/30365930

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-17

Let's take nothing away from Alex Albon and as a rookie he excelled in yesterdays qualifying.

 

However his skill he clearly inherited from his British Father, himself a former race car driver and he was very fortunate that it was under the guidance of his Father growing up during his adolescent informative years which is just as well as his Thai Mother,  Kankamol ,  was not around much after receiving her 6 year sentence in the UK during July 2012 for serious fraud. Her current whereabouts appears cloudy but suspected to be back in her native Thailand, although Alex Albon did make mention during yesterdays Sky interview that he phoned her when he got the Torro Rosso seat in Dec 2018.

An article in the Daily Mirror dated last December said that Alexander Albon lived with his Thai mother in Milton Keynes.

As a Thai Driver, I'm not astonished that he's fast, more that he actually follows the rules and doesn't crash into everything.

It will all go fine until he flees the scene of his first crash.

Number 10 seems to have a slower time than 11 and 12  13 14 but is ahead on the grid,or should I put my glasses on.not a race fan don't know how it works.

There is a nation of emulators on the road right now????

I just wonder how the other drivers will feel when they go into the first chicane and see him coming towards them.

21 hours ago, Ombra said:

An article in the Daily Mirror dated last December said that Alexander Albon lived with his Thai mother in Milton Keynes.

Well even if you believe that, given this Thai fraudster was only released from the UK prison in 2018 ( https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kankamol+albon+released&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY0qHM04rhAhWnUxUIHYRpD-sQ1QIoA3oECAIQBA&biw=1366&bih=657) , and with Alex touring so much in his profession, then I wonder how many minutes he has actually lived with his mother since she was released ?    Also 192.com apparently show any records  for either of them living in Milton Keynes.  Guess now with his F1 career kick started again he will soon be looking move out of the UK perhaps to live as many do.

On 3/17/2019 at 1:50 PM, Greasewheel said:

It will all go fine until he flees the scene of his first crash.

Fortunately apart from having a Thai mother he is very much 100% British.

 

I think his decision to race under a Thai flag maybe more to do with RedBull...

 

Maybe in a year or to he will be racing for a new team called  กระทิงแดง (Krathing dæng).