On the opening lap, Albon was hit by RB's poor-starting Daniel Ricciardo in Turn 3, at the start of the Esses.
The glancing blow sent both cars into the tyre barriers, which had to be repaired during the following 30-minute red flag interruption.
While the accident happened at relatively low speeds, another crash was the last thing Williams needed.
The team still has no spare chassis available, which made Logan Sargeant sit out the Australian Grand Prix after Albon damaged his chassis in a practice shunt and took over his team-mate's car.
Sargeant returned for Japan with the repaired chassis and escaped further drama when he crashed in FP1.
Another shunt in the race for Albon puts further squeeze on Williams in terms of spare parts production and the Thai driver said the thought of damaging his chassis went through his mind even before he hit the wall.
"Immediately. Before I even hit the wall," he replied when asked when the spare chassis situation played on his mind.
Source: Autosport