Williams has been handed a €50,000 fine by the Formula 1 race stewards in China for failing to supply camera surveillance footage.
Teams are required to supply camera footage to the race stewards which monitor the front and rear wings amid the FIA’s clampdown on flexi-wings.
Williams was referred to the FIA technical delegate for failing to supply this footage and subsequently summoned to hear its verdict at 08:30 local time Saturday morning.
The team escaped with the aforementioned fine, with a further €40,000 suspended as its wings are compliant and its failure to supply footage came about thanks to miscommunication.
Williams understood it was up to the FIA to supply the SD card to capture footage, whereas the governing body said this was the team’s responsibility.
The stewards’ verdict on Williams
“It is undisputed by the team that it failed to do so [provide FIA with footage],” read the verdict.
“The reason for the failure was apparently the team’s belief that the cameras would come fitted with SD cards supplied by the FIA. They did not check if they did.
“They apparently relied on an email from the FIA Techincal Delegate to one team member that suggested that the teams could supply their own SD cards. The team claimed that they assumed that the cameras that they installed on their cars were fitted with the SD card supplied by the FIA.
“They noticed during the middle of the session that there was a red flashing light in the cameras and reported that to the Technical Delegate. However, they did not know what the flashing light meant and in any event, it was too late to fit the SD card(s) by then.
“When the absence of the SD cards was discovered after the session, the team did not report the fact of their failure to install the SD cards to the Technical Delegate
“For avoidance of doubt, there was no suggestion that the wings were not in compliance with the bodywork flexibility requirements under the Technical Regulations.
“Nevertheless, given that TD034L was clear in placing the responsibility for ensuring that the cameras were fitted with the empty SD card on the team, it was equally clear that the team was not in compliance with the directions in TD034L.
“We therefore find that the team has infringed Article 12.1.1i of the ISC and impose a fine of €50,000 euros on the team of which €40,000 would be suspended until 31st December 2025 subject to the team not committing a similar infringement.”
Williams responds
Williams responded to the stewards’ verdict with a statement of its own.
“We had concerns over the cameras not working in FP1, and as a result were in dialogue with the FIA throughout the session,” it read.
“Following the session, the FIA and ourselves have reviewed all the procedures, and we can confirm that the failure to provide footage in the allotted time was down to a miscommunication, and internal processes will be addressed as a result so that this does not reoccur.
“For completeness, we provided all footage as requested in Melbourne with no issue and will continue to support the FIA and provide all required footage in a timely manner going forwards.
“We have no concerns over the legality of our wing.
“It is the same wing we ran in Melbourne, is fully compliant and we did not have to make any adjustments further to the issuing of the new [Technical Directive].
“Yesterday’s issue was procedural, and we are confident that we will provide all future recordings without issue.
“We understand that to ensure fair policing of technical regulations the FIA issued the resulting fine and we thank them for the constructive conversations and measured handling of this matter.”
READ MORE – Williams summoned to Chinese GP stewards for F1 flexi-wing camera anomaly
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