Williams drivers disqualified from Singapore GP Qualifying for technical breaches

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have both been disqualified from Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix due to technical breaches on their Williams cars.

Albon and Sainz placed 12th and 13th in Saturday night’s session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but will lose those results after the team failed post-Qualifying checks.

“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car numbers 23 (Albon) and 55 (Sainz),” read a note from FIA F1 Technical Delegate Jo Bauer. “Both cars exceeded the maximum limit of 85mm on both sides of the rear wing outer area.”

This violates Article 3.10.10 g. of the Technical Regulations, which covers the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and states that “at all points along the span, when the DRS is in the state of deployment, the two sections the rear wing profiles must have a minimum gap of between 9.4mm and 85mm”.

As is standard procedure with such a scenario, the stewards later confirmed that Albon and Sainz had been disqualified from Qualifying.

“During post-Qualifying scrutineering, the rear wing of the car was found to be non-compliant with the Technical Regulations,” read the stewards’ notes for Albon and Sainz’s disqualifications.

“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked. The DRS in the state of deployment exceeded the maximum limit of 85mm on both sides of the rear wing outer area.

“At the hearing, the competitor admitted that, although their own measurement prior to the Qualifying had shown the component to be within tolerance, the measurement subsequently conducted by the appointed FIA officials revealed a larger gap than permitted and therefore the rear wing did not conform with the required dimension.

“The competitor did not contest the measurement procedure, the methodology, or the accuracy of the measuring equipment used by FIA. The competitor fully accepted the results of the FIA measurement and acknowledged that the rear wing fitted to the car did not comply with the requirements of the Technical Regulations.

“Accordingly, the standard penalty applicable to technical infringements is imposed.”

'This is bitterly disappointing for the team'

Following the confirmation of the disqualification, Williams Team Principal James Vowles issued a statement saying: "During FIA scrutineering after Qualifying, the rear wings on both our cars failed DRS slot gap checks. As a result, Alex and Carlos have been disqualified from Qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix.

"This is bitterly disappointing for the team and we are urgently investigating how this happened. At no point were we seeking a performance advantage and the rear wings had passed our own checks earlier in the day, but there is only one measurement that matters and we fully accept the FIA ruling.

"We have a car capable of scoring points here this weekend and will do everything we can to fight from the back of the grid tomorrow, and will immediately review our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again."

The Williams double disqualification comes after Esteban Ocon was also disqualified from Qualifying at the previous round in Azerbaijan, with the rear wing on his Haas failing post-session checks.