Just hours after Logan Sargeant crashed his newly upgraded FW46, more bad news arrives for Williams. Alex Albon faces disqualification from today’s qualifying session, as the FIA’s inspections of his car found the floor to be “outside the regulatory volume.” The stewards will now investigate this potential legality issue, which could spell disaster for the British team.
Williams and Albon face a nightmare scenario in Zandvoort
Only in the last few hours, it has emerged that Williams could replace Sargeant mid-season. This dramatic course of action is being considered after the 23-year-old crashed and the upgrades on his FW46.
In a hugely ironic turn of events, the legality of these components is now in question. Jo Bauer, the FIA’s technical delegate, checked the aerodynamic components and bodywork on Alex Albon’s car.
His checks found that the floor body was beyond the regulatory limit. As a result, the stewards have now been referred to investigate this matter.
This is the second time a driver could be disqualified from a session in two race weekends. Just before the summer break, it was George Russell who lost a race victory in Belgium after failing to deliver an adequate fuel sample.
Once it emerged that the FIA first detected a potential irregularity, it became clear that a disqualification was the most likely response.
Although this situation is perhaps slightly less clear-cut, there is still a major risk that Williams could be penalised. If this were to happen, Albon would lose his 8th-place grid slot, which represents one of his best qualifying results of 2024.
Arguably the greater concern is what this means for the team’s upgrades. Having invested so heavily in the FW46’s latest package, it would be a devastating blow if the floor is in violation of the regulations.
It cannot be overstated how important the floor is for this generation of F1 cars.
Williams are already tasked with producing a fresh set of components to compensate for Sargeant’s crash. However, things could go from bad to worse for the designers and engineers in Grove.
