There are certainly more pleasant ways to prepare for a Grand Prix than the one experienced by Alexander Albon in Suzuka. The Williams driver narrowly escaped a powerful earthquake in his home country of Thailand, where he had been invited by the Prime Minister to discuss a potential Grand Prix in Bangkok. He describes the experience as ‘surreal’, just days before the Japanese Grand Prix.
Last week, Myanmar and surrounding areas, including Thailand, were hit by an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale.
The Thai driver was unaware of the earthquake, and the ensuing chaos only added to his confusion. Nevertheless, the Williams driver is ‘simply’ present at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, where he reflects on the incident. “It was a bit tricky to navigate. I landed 30 minutes after it happened. So when I landed, it was like DEFCON 3 and everyone was panicking. And I was like, what’s going on? It was almost surreal because I had no data on my phone, so I could only see people panicking and I didn’t know what was happening. So it was a bit scary,” he says.
He adds, “It was good to see people mostly in good spirits, happy that there was no more damage. Our hotel room was really heavily damaged, cracks were visible everywhere. It surprises me that the majority of the buildings remained standing. It was frightening, but it ended well for me.”
Strong Product
Alexander Albon, who holds both Thai and British nationality, met the Thai Prime Minister before he went to Japan. This came a day after Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met the Prime Minister. Despite the hectic schedule, Albon looks back positively on the visit. “Really good. To be completely honest, it was a bit hectic to go back to the simulator and then come to Thailand. But it’s clear that we’re trying to help get the Thai Grand Prix started and see how we can help.”
The Williams driver, who races under the Thai flag, has confidence in the project and sees a home race definitely coming to fruition. “It’s moving forward, of course nothing is definitive yet, but it’s really good to see Thailand’s commitment. They take it very seriously and I think they have a very strong product.”
