Alex Albon has been disqualified from the qualifying results at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix, as his Williams car was found to have failed a legality check on the floor.
The Anglo-Thai driver excelled as he progressed through into Q3 using his upgraded Williams FW46 car and then attained eighth place on the grid in the last segment.
However, post-race scrutineering checks flagged his car’s “floor body was found to lie outside the regulatory volume” and the matter was passed over to the stewards.
As is commonplace with such technicalities, the FIA Stewards announced that Albon’s car didn’t conform with the technical regulations and he’s now been excluded.
“The Stewards heard from the team representatives of Car 23 (Alexander Albon), the FIA Technical Delegate, the FIA Scrutineer conducting the measurement of the car and the FIA Single Seater Director,” read the Stewards’ statement.
“The floor body of Car 23 was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.
“The team did not dispute the calibration of the FIA measuring system and the measurement of the car, but stated that their own measurements have produced different results.
“The Stewards determine that the result of the measurement conducted with the FIA system in Parc Ferme is the relevant one and the due process prescribed by the regulations has been followed.
“Therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement is applied [disqualification].”
Albon’s disqualification has compounded a disastrous weekend at Williams as team-mate Logan Sargeant sustained a huge crash in FP3 which wrecked his chances.
The American was unable to participate in qualifying despite the team’s best attempts, meaning that the two Williams drivers will now line up as the last two runners.
Albon’s misfortune will promote Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to eighth, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to ninth and also help out Carlos Sainz, who was a surprise Q2 elimination.
Moreover, Lewis Hamilton, who qualified 12th but incurred a three-place grid penalty for impeding Sergio Perez, will now start 14th instead of 15th.
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