Visa Cash App RB CEO Peter Bayer has now accused a rival Formula 1 driver of being ‘overconfident’ after an incident during the 2024 Japanese GP at Suzuka last Sunday.
The travelling circus of Formula 1 returned to the Land of the Rising Sun six months after its previous visit. But the outcome was the same as Red Bull star Max Verstappen won his third straight Japanese GP. Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz also reached the podium last weekend.
Home hero Yuki Tsunoda also rounded out the Japanese GP point-scoring positions in P10 for Visa Cash App RB. He finished one lap behind Verstappen, but became the first Japanese driver to score points at Suzuka since Kamui Kobayashi gave Sauber a podium finish in 2012.
Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon crashed out of the 2024 Japanese GP on Lap 1
But a first-lap incident with Williams driver Alex Albon ended Daniel Ricciardo’s Japanese GP in the other Visa Cash App RB car. The pair collided entering Turn 3 and spun into the barrier to trigger a red flag delay for repairs. The stewards deemed the crash to be a racing incident.
Ricciardo made a poor start and found himself boxed in behind the 34-year-old’s teammate, Tsunoda, through Turn 1. Albon then sensed a chance to overtake Ricciardo out of T2 as the Australian struggled for grip. But the RB pilot did not see the Williams ace go on his outside.
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Albon found greater traction than Ricciardo out of T2 having started the Japanese GP on the soft compound Pirelli tyres. But while the 28-year-old moved alongside the Perth native into T3, Ricciardo drifted over after seeing Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll in his left-hand mirror.
Visa Cash App RB CEO Peter Bayer feels Williams driver Alex Albon was ‘overconfident’
Suzuka’s narrow run into T3 meant Albon’s front wing sliced Ricciardo’s rear-right tyre off its rim and span the RB driver without the room to avoid a collision. But Visa Cash App RB CEO Bayer also feels Albon got ‘overconfident’ and tried to force an overtake that was never on.
“For me, it was clearly a normal racing accident, as can always happen in a tight field on the first lap,” Bayer told Auto Motor und Sport.
“The soft tyres had such a grip advantage that Albon was, perhaps, a bit overconfident. He tried to position himself on the outside in a fast corner. There was no space and, actually, nothing to gain.”
While Bayer feels that Albon had ‘nothing to gain’ by positioning his Williams on Ricciardo’s outside, the London-born Thai may have completed his overtake had the Visa Cash App RB driver not drifted over. If Ricciardo held his original line, Albon might have won the corner.
Albon did not go out of his way to force an overtake, either. Instead, he tried to capitalise on Ricciardo fighting for grip after starting the Japanese GP on medium tyres. Had he not taken to the Australian’s outside exiting Turn 2, Albon would have likely rear-ended Ricciardo, too.
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