Albon drops to P19 for Miami Sprint after track limit violation

Alex Albon has been demoted down to P19 for the Miami Sprint after the stewards deemed the Williams driver exceeded track limits during Sprint Qualifying.

Albon progressed through to SQ2 and had initially taken 14th on Friday but, following the session, it was deemed he exceeded track limits at Turn 6 with his final effort in the previous segment.

The decision to strip Albon of his best lap in SQ1 and all subsequent laps in SQ2 means he will start Saturday's Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome from P19.

Albon had squeezed into SQ2 with his final effort, a 1m 30.988s, leaving him P16 and demoting Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson by less than one-tenth.

The Kiwi driver noticeably stayed in his car until just after the start of SQ2, before it was subsequently confirmed after Sprint Qualifying that Albon's effort had exceeded track limits.

The stewards' document read: "During SQ1, Car 23 clearly exceeded track limits in Turn 6. However this was not reported to the Stewards until SQ2 had commenced.

"Car 23’s time recorded on the lap that track limits were exceeded was sufficient to place it in SQ2. Hence at the time the Stewards were informed that Car 23 had left the track and that its lap should have been potentially deleted, it was already on track in SQ2.

"As this was an unusual situation, the Stewards have decided to settle the matter by exercising their authority under Article 11.7.1.a of the International Sporting Code by deleting the lap time of the lap in question in SQ1.

"As Car 23 should not have proceeded into SQ2, all lap times from SQ2 will consequently be deleted."