Williams has disclosed that Alex Albon’s disqualification in qualifying at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix was down to a “wrong measurement” with the team’s new floor.
Albon capitalised on Williams’ much-anticipated update package to progress through into Q3 at Zandvoort and claim a season-best eighth place on the starting grid.
However, the Anglo-Thai driver’s efforts would be voided as post-race scrutineering checks found his car’s “floor body was found to lie outside the regulatory volume”.
Williams boss James Vowles has revealed that the numerous checks conducted back at the team’s base in Grove didn’t indicate that its revised floor would be illegal.
“The facts are we were disqualified for a floor that was too wide,” Vowles said in a video Williams published on social media.
“The floor we have here this weekend, in fact the whole bodywork and number of items are all new. It’s not the first time we’ve been scanned,
we’ve obviously been following and complying to all of these procedures since they were brought into place several years ago and haven’t been found in excess until now.”
“We use scanning techniques now rather than physical measuring techniques because it’s not just one point that you have to be aware of and it’s heights and widths
all across some quite complex shapes. Before we come here we have scanned the floor and the car multiple times.
“It happened back at the factory in isolation with the floor, it happened back at the factory on the car, it happened here on Thursday as well.
“And we did demonstrate all of these results to the FIA which indicate that our floor is within the legal compliance,
but what matters is the adjudication of the FIA, their measurements and their systems, and that we entirely accept.
Vowles has explained that the solution to the setback should be a simple one amid an evaluation into the processes that resulted in the problem having commenced.
“What we now need to do is understand how we could have been wrong in our measurements and what we need to change in terms of process with immediate effect,” he added.
“There’s only one area of the car that we were not compliant with and it’s an easy fix, but irrespective of the rule, it’s the rule and it’s black and white in that regard.
“We cannot spend hours of work developing an update kit. We cannot ask our drivers to put everything on the line in order to secure points scoring positions to then throw it away
with not being completely there on every single boundary of the regulation. And there’s no one really accountable for that, but ourselves, that’s on our shoulders.
“No one else outside of that has any responsibility. We need to address and get on top of that with immediate effect.”
Vowles has conceded that Williams’ frustration has been amplified as the team has shown positive pace with the revamped FW46 across all conditions this weekend.
“The performance of the car was positive,” he expressed. “We’re in a situation where that update is now producing good results.
“And in a very tight midfield, we’re able to put the car back into that qualifying three position, back into a point-scoring position for the race today.
“That’s also mirrored by a long run on Friday that again was positive.
“It had pulled clear of the midfield and we were in a situation, in fact, at times where a long run was overlaying with Ferrari.
“It is a very different situation to what we’ve been [experiencing compared] to the beginning of the season.”
Nevertheless, Vowles is still upbeat about the Grove-based squad’s prospects over the remaining rounds this season as it bids to improve upon ninth in the standings.
“We still have beyond here, this race weekend, where I feel we have a strong enough car to be able to fight through the field,” he continued.
“I’m excited by the prospects of today because the car remains quick and we have opportunity in the race.
“And beyond here, we have nine more races where we have to deliver time and time again with perfection in order to score points and fight our way up the championship.
“This isn’t the standard I want us to hold ourselves to this weekend, but let’s now make it a process change to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
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