Early Red Flag in Japanese GP Due to Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon Lap One Crash

The start of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit on Sunday was quickly aborted as a lap one incident between Daniel Riccardo and Alex Albon brought out the red flag just after the leaders left the first segment.

Both Racing Bulls and Williams have had hard starts to the 2024 season, with the latter seemingly snakebit over the last two Grand Prix weekends. Albon crashed in free practice for the Australian Grand Prix and was only able to compete through the rest of the weekend because the team decided to let him race his teammate Logan Sargeant's car. Williams is currently still traveling with only two available chassis for at least the next two race weekends.

At the start of the race, Ricciardo was shuffled back from his 11th-place starting position when his teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a bad start and scrunched up the drivers behind him. When Tsunoda made the pass back by his teammate, Ricciardo was ahead of Albon when the Williams driver looked left to see where Lance Stroll was on the track and lost his gap, leading the two to collide, sending Albon into the barrier.

Tsunoda was quick to ask if his teammate was okay after hearing of the collision behind him. The two RB drivers appear to be much closer than they were after the 2024 season opener.