Williams driver Alex Albon will not take part in sprint qualifying at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after a crash involving a groundhog in the opening practice session.
Albon was exiting Turn 7 during practice when a groundhog ran across the circuit and under the front left wheel his Williams.
The impact with the animal appeared to force the car wide on the exit of the corner and, with no real run-off beyond the edge of the track, Albon 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 sole practice session of the weekend being suspended for 15 minutes.
Ahead of Friday's sprint qualifying, which will set the grid for Saturday's sprint race, Williams confirmed the damage to the car had ruled Albon out of the session.
"Following the incident in FP1 involving wildlife on track, Alex will not run in this afternoon's sprint qualifying session," a team statement said. "Despite the best efforts of the team to repair the car, the damage sustained was far more extensive than originally thought, requiring the gearbox and PU [power unit] to be replaced.
"It's unlucky for Alex, but we'll look to take all the learnings from Carlos [Sainz]'s side of the garage to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow's sessions."
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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.
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 "devastated" when his team informed him of what happened.
