Formula One star Alex Albon crashed into a groundhog at nearly 100mph in practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Williams driver was unable to avoid the animal after turn seven on the streets of Montreal, crashing into the barriers and wrecking his car for sprint qualifying.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve sits in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Montreal’s Isle Notre-Dame, and groundhogs on track have become a regular feature during race weekends over the years.
Lewis Hamilton hit one during last year’s race, saying he was “devastated”.
Williams was left with a major repair job as Albon, an animal lover, headed back to the garage.
Onboard after hitting the groundhog, Albon said: “I’m so f***ing unlucky.”
Despite their best efforts to repair his car, Williams confirmed that their driver would be out of sprint qualifying due to the extensive damage.
George Russell topped the sprint qualifying from teammate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.068 seconds.
Alex Albon crashed into a groundhog at nearly 100mph
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Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix but has seen his Italian teammate take three victories in a row from China, Japan and Miami.
The Briton said afterwards: “I’ve been in the sport for seven years and the trends have been there for seven years.
“It’s just you guys now see it because I’m fighting for victories and for a championship. I didn’t need that validation.
“Maybe if we had [the cancelled races] in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia between Miami [and Japan], and they were good races like we had in Melbourne and China, the conversation wouldn’t have even been there.”
Albon said: ‘I’m so f***ing unlucky’ after the crash
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Russell continued: “This feels great after a tough Miami but I never doubted myself. I know what I can do. Miami is unique but this is an amazing circuit with high grip.
“It feels you are driving a proper F1 car around here, which is how it should be.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he was never in doubt of Russell’s ability during his battle with Antonelli.
Russell finished top of the sprint qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix
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Wolff said: “It’s only the baby race but still it’s good to see the pace is there, also for [Russell’s] confidence.
“But I’ve never doubted, we’ve never doubted in that. Miami was a bad track.
“It’s always clear that [Antonelli] is fast and he has shown that.
“I think it’s good for both drivers to fight like this. It makes the team faster, and there’s not a lot in it.”
