Behind-the-scenes footage shows F1 mechanic almost ran over after ‘never before seen’ pit crew error

Behind-the-scenes footage appeared to show a Formula 1 mechanic almost getting run over during an incident involving Williams driver Alexander Albon.

On Saturday afternoon, qualifying took place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix around the Baku City Circuit.

McLaren star Lando Norris suffered a shock exit in the first session after being held by an apparent yellow flag.

In the end, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured pole position ahead of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.

However, Williams driver Albon had his qualifying ruined after being released from his garage with the airbox that cools the car still attached.

The Thai driver was forced to remove the airbox himself as anybody else doing so would have counted as illegal outside interference and potentially caused a disqualification from the session.

After the qualifying session, footage from inside the garage showed a mechanic trying to remove the airbox as Albon drove out into the pit lane.

In his attempt to remove the airbox, the mechanic came extremely close to being run over by Albon’s car.

Reacting on social media, one fan said: “Ohhh so thats how it got left on.”

Another wrote: “His leg was one centimeter from a large bone facing outwards.”

A third added: “So incredibly close, that mechanic is so lucky.”

Someone else wrote: “The mechanic was incredibly lucky.”

Speaking after the session, Albon said: “It’s just one of them things. Everyone’s trying their best. We made a mistake.

“There was a rush to get the slipstream in Q3 like there always is around here. We just missed out. Obviously the fan got left in. I’m sure everyone’s going to be kicking themselves for it, but you know, it happens. And I think we’ve normally been pretty on it with these kinds of things.”

He added: “I’d rather it happen in Q3 than in Q1 and Q2 and not make it through. We’re still in the mix.

“We’re still hopefully starting in the top 10 tomorrow. I need to see now if everything was legal after that session!”