Williams driver, Alex Albon put in a strong performance earlier today to secure a top-10 starting position for the 2024 Dutch GP. The British-Thai driver’s final flying Q3 effort bagged him a fourth-row start from P8 alongside Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
However, the #23 driver has been disqualified from the session after an alleged technical infringement was reported on his FW46. The FIA’s technical delegate, Jo Bauer referred Albon to the stewards after the latter’s car was found in violation of the FIA’s Technical Regulations.
According to the FIA’s decision document no. 35, “After the Qualifying session the aerodynamic component and bodywork areas were checked on car number 23. The floor body was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a).”
⚠️ Alex Albon has been disqualified from qualifying
The Williams driver will start the #DutchGP from the rear of the field after his floor breached technical regulations#F1 https://t.co/nvzlE39XUy
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 24, 2024
Article 3.5.1 a) of the Technical Regulations stipulates that the car’s floor body must adhere to the reference volume as calculated under Article 5.26 of Appendix 1. Upon inspection, it was found by the technical delegate that Albon’s FW46 did not adhere to the said floor body reference volume parameter.
As a result, the stewards had taken cognizance of the incident. The 28-year-old had been summoned to the stewards along with a team representative. The hearing on Albon’s fate was scheduled to take place at 18:30 (GMT+2).
As of 19:55 (GMT+2), Albon has been disqualified by the stewards for infringing Article 3.5.1 a) of the Technical Regulations. The official verdict from the FIA read, “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.”
As per the internal procedures of the FIA, Williams can appeal this decision. However, given the nature of the infringement, it is unlikely that the penalty would be overturned.
