No Radio, No Luck: How Alex Albon Endured an « Old-School » Vegas GP with Pit Boards and Penalties

Short Excerpt: Alex Albon’s Las Vegas GP turned into a throwback ordeal: no team radio, a penalty after clashing with Hamilton, and confusion in the pits, ending his day early despite pace.

Williams’ Alex Albon faced a nightmare scenario at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix: radio failure left him in “old-school” survival mode, relying on pit boards for team instructions while his race spiraled through reprimands, a collision with Lewis Hamilton, a five-second penalty, and ultimately an early retirement. For Albon, it was a taste of F1’s past in the most punishing way.

A RACE AGAINST ADVERSITY

Albon’s misfortunes began even before the five red lights when radio problems cropped up during formation laps—rendering all team communications useless. While his teammate Carlos Sainz would go on to score well, Albon’s day quickly soured with a starting procedure reprimand.

Deprived of radio, Albon could only see messages on Williams’ pit boards, a method F1 hasn’t relied on regularly for decades. As chaos unfolded on the tricky Las Vegas street circuit, the lack of direct guidance meant he missed out on information about yellow flags, pit strategies, safety car windows, and race control directives.

COLLISION AND PENALTY: HAMILTON TAKES A HIT

While fighting in the pack, Albon found himself behind Lewis Hamilton and attempted to capitalize when the Ferrari briefly overshot Turn 12. Using DRS, he made contact with Hamilton’s rear at Turn 14—destroying his own front wing and scattering debris.

Stewards concluded Albon was primarily responsible and issued a five-second penalty for causing a collision. The Williams pit crew, unaware of critical front wing damage due to no radio, didn’t change Albon’s nose cone at his first pit stop despite him gesturing urgently from the cockpit. Only after a second stop was the wing replaced—by then, time and track position were irreparably lost.

“AN OPPORTUNITY MISSED”

Albon reflected candidly:

« We didn’t have radio at any point in the race, so it was throwback, kind of old-school stuff, pit boards out. It was very disappointing to come away with no points this weekend. We sustained damage at the beginning… and not having radio meant we couldn’t confirm if the car was safe to drive or get updates on flags, safety cars, or debris. »

He described the experience as at once “dangerous” and “peaceful,” with a modern F1 car’s pace blunted by the basic risks of racing in silence.

RACE OVER, LESSONS LEARNED

After 35 laps, and with Williams out of options amid continued mechanical woes and zero hope for points, Albon retired from the race. The radio blackout had turned what could have been a recovery drive into a night of confusion, missed strategy, and safety risks—a rare ordeal in the ultra-connected world of modern Formula 1.

The Old-School Experience

Racing without radio communication in modern F1 is extremely rare. Drivers typically rely on constant feedback from their engineers about:

• Track conditions and weather updates
• Strategy adjustments and pit windows
• Warning flags and safety car periods
• Car performance issues and damage assessment
• Communication with race control

Albon had to rely solely on visual cues, his own judgment, and the limited information conveyed through pit boards—making his performance even more impressive given the circumstances.

Looking Ahead

Despite the disappointment, Albon’s ability to adapt to such challenging circumstances demonstrates his resilience and racecraft. The Williams team will undoubtedly investigate the radio failure to prevent future occurrences, but the Thai driver’s performance under extreme adversity earned respect throughout the paddock.

For a driver who has shown remarkable improvement since his return to F1, this Vegas weekend was a reminder of how quickly fortune can change in motorsport—and how important every component, including something as basic as radio communication, remains in the complex world of modern Formula 1.