“Barely the Width of Sandpaper”: James Vowles Talks Small Margins Over Alex Albon’s Unfortunate Disqualification

Williams has been fighting at the lower end of the mid-field for the majority of the 2024 season. So, Alex Albon qualifying in P8 for the Dutch Grand Prix on pure pace was finally a positive sign for them. However, he was unfortunately disqualified by the FIA after his FW46 was found exceeding the limits of the floor width.

The decision of Albon’s disqualification came about two hours after the qualifying session leaving the British-Thai driver in despair. However, team principal James Vowles has now opened up about just how small the margin was with the floor of Albon‘s car.

Formula1.com quoted Vowles as saying, “It was decimals of a millimeter, barely the width of sandpaper, but that is the world we operate in. I’m pleased the car still looks quick.”

The statement from the stewards following Albon’s disqualification explained that the key issue was with the part of the car known as the “floor body”, which did not comply with Article 3.5.1 a) of the technical regulations.

Interestingly, the Williams team, while acknowledging the accuracy of the FIA’s measuring system, pointed out that their own measurements had shown different results. Regardless of that fact, the Dutch GP weekend was thoroughly ruined for the Grove-based team.

Vowles takes responsibility for avoiding technical breaches like the Dutch GP

It was an important weekend for Williams considering they had brought major upgrades to both their cars following the summer break and the car did look fast enough throughout the weekend.

But it eventually turned into a wasted opportunity because firstly, Logan Sargeant had a scary crash in FP3 that destroyed his car and he couldn’t participate in qualifying. Then, Albon’s disqualification meant that both cars had to start from the back of the grid and neither of the cars could get into the points-scoring positions.

Vowles has stated that they did not get the regulations right while their drivers have been putting everything on the line to try and score some points. However, he has now taken the responsibility to get things right, so that the team has to never face a compliance issue like this in the future.

In a video clip on Williams’ X (formerly Twitter) account, Vowles said, “There’s no one really accountable for that but ourselves, that’s on our shoulders…. What we now need to do is understand how we could have been wrong in our own measurements and what we need to change in terms of process with immediate effect.”