Alex Albon returned to the wheel of his Williams FW44 at a challenging Marina Bay Circuit following his recovery from appendicitis that ruled him out of the Italian Grand Prix

After missing the previous race, Alex was back in action at the Singapore Grand Prix - which makes it return to the calendar after a 3 year absence due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Rain hit the circuit on Qualifying day, following a solid Friday FP1 and FP2 session as Alex reacclimatised himself with F1 machinery.

After a reduced FP3 that saw just half an hour of wet running, the rain dissipated ahead of qualifying but the Marina Bay Street Circuit remained wet enough to ensure intermediate tyre running for the opening stages.

Alex's times tumbled lap after lap, finding himself on the cusp of Q2 running in P16 heading into the closing stages.
Although Alex's penultimate push laps brought improvement, it wasn’t enough to elevate himself out of the drop zone - lining up P19 on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

A torrential downpour 90 minutes before the race had been scheduled to start led to a 65 minute delay, with proceedings getting underway on intermediate tyres.
Alex braved the treacherous conditions, but would suffer a spin at T7 on the opening lap which saw the Thai racer drop to the back of the field and begin a recovery drive on the slippery Singapore streets.

He recovered to P17 through the Safety Car period and into a Virtual Safety Car spell caused by Fernando Alonso’s retirement on Lap 22.
All the time, the track was drying and conversations were ongoing as to when the switch to slick tyres would be made.

At the VSC restart, Kevin Magnussen would get the jump on Alex before his race would be brought to a premature end.
On Lap 26, he would lock up and slide into the wall at T8, losing his front wing and picking up a puncture for his troubles.

He would limp back around to pits and the call was made to put him onto the medium compound, however, he would not return to the circuit as further damage was discovered and his race was over.
A disappointing end to the weekend, however it was still a fantastic turnaround for Alex as he returned to action following respiratory failure during an appendectomy just three weeks ago.

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Alex Albon, Williams Racing Driver #23:

“It’s a bit frustrating and was difficult out there tonight. It’s confusing with nothing different from the previous lap, however, I just locked up on the front left with the wet making it difficult to predict the brakes.

“Whilst there wasn’t an issue and ultimately it comes down to driver error, the brakes are very tricky in the wet and it’s hard to get them in the right window.

"We knew coming into Singapore we likely wouldn’t be fighting for points, so whilst it’s difficult, we can look to Japan and come back fighting.”

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka will host the next round of the Formula One World Championship in just one weeks time, on the 7-9 October.