Motorsports

Albon crashes after running over groundhog in sole practice at Canadian GP

Published: 

Alex Albon crashed out of the only practice session for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after his car ran over a groundhog on the track.

The Williams driver was exiting Turn 7 when the groundhog ran across the circuit and under the front left wheel of the car.

The impact with the animal appeared to force Albon wide on the exit of the corner and, with no real run-off beyond the edge of the track, he crashed heavily into the barrier.

"Alex came around Turn 7 and unfortunately couldn't avoid a groundhog," a Williams spokesperson said when asked about the incident, which was not shown on Formula 1's world feed.

The crash caused extensive damage to Albon's car and resulted in the session being suspended for 15 minutes.

A large population of groundhogs live on Montreal's Ile Notre-Dame, where the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is situated, and incidents involving the animals are, unfortunately, common.

Kimi Antonelli cuts out social media to focus on F1 title ambitions
Canadian Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli fastest in disrupted practice session, George Russell second
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Race and F1 sprint start times, how to watch, full schedule, predictions

Last year, Lewis Hamilton hit a groundhog on the 12th lap of the race, resulting in damage to the underside of his Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion was not aware of the incident at the time, but said he was "devasted" when his team informed him of what happened.

It is a sprint weekend in Canada which means this was the sole practice session for the teams and drivers before sprint qualifying later.