After abundant crash damage bills last season, Williams’ financial liabilities don’t seem to catch a break. This time, the Grove-based team got into trouble with the FIA after the sole Free Practice session in Shanghai on Friday for failing to submit onboard footage to officials on time.
The footage was required to check for irregularities with the FW47’s front and rear wings as part of the FIA’s recent implementation of stricter checks to prevent teams from using a ‘mini-DRS’ for an advantage. All teams are expected to submit video files within an hour after the session for inspection.
Journalist Chris Medland first reported that the team had been summoned by the stewards at the Shanghai International Circuit. Following meetings held earlier today, the verdict went against the Grove-based outfit.
Fortunately, for offenses like this, drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will not face any on-track penalties. However, the team will take a financial hit, with Williams being fined $54,386 (€50,000). Still, they will not have to pay the whole fine in one go.
Currently, their outflow will stand at only $10,877 (€10,000). Medland revealed on X (formerly Twitter), “This resulted in a €50,000 fine with €40,000 suspended until the end of the year [2025]. The team thought the cameras would come fitted with SD cards, but it’s on the team to fit those and Williams failed to do so.”
This resulted in a €50,000 fine with €40,000 suspended until the end of the year. The team thought the cameras would come fitted with SD cards, but it’s on the team to fit those and Williams failed to do so #F1 #ChineseGP
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) March 22, 2025
This suggests that the British team made an avoidable error, which could have been down to a lapse in judgment. But it was certainly one that they will learn from moving forward. If they commit a similar offense moving on this season, they will have to pay the suspended fine amount of $43,509 too.
Williams released a statement shortly after the FIA announced its decision. The team insisted that there was nothing irregular about their front or rear wing and acknowledged a miscommunication between the two parties.
Team Statement pic.twitter.com/ctI4JThou6
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 22, 2025
“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,” the team added.
It’s Williams’ first financial setback of 2025. While it’s certainly not expected to be their last, they would much rather deal with these expenses than the over $3 million spent on damages last season. That was far from ideal in the budget cap era, where they are already operating on a tight budget.
