Williams left fuming after FIA blunder cost Albon spot in Q2

The Williams team was left reeling after Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying after a delayed FIA decision robbed Alex Albon of a spot in Q2.

Albon was edged out by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg by a mere 0.042 seconds in Q1, missing the cut for the next round.

However, Hulkenberg’s lap was later deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 11, revealing he shouldn’t have advanced to Q2 – where he initially qualified 13th – while Albon was wrongly eliminated.

The correction came too late, leaving Albon in 15th on the grid, just ahead of Hulkenberg in 16th. Unimpressed with race control, Williams team principal James Vowles didn’t hide his frustration.

“I'm not feeling good about this, it’s frustrating,” Vowles told Sky Sports F1.

“Obviously the track limits are analysed live, but the result for Hulkenberg came way after we would have had an opportunity to go to Q2, and today Alex had the pace to make it all the way to Q3.

“I think in Q1 it wasn't the best out lap and we were blocked quite significantly. As I said, on us is the fact that he's out in Q1. We got blocked in the pit lane, simple as that.”

Probing the FIA’s Delay

Nevertheless, Vowles demanded clarity from the FIA on the tardy ruling.

“What we need to understand, and I'm waiting for a report from the FIA, is why was this analysed so much later than that, because it's not one position gained, it could be many positions,” he said.

“What I'd like to understand now is, is why this happened, and obviously, it's not going to rectify the position. The position will still be where it is on the grid.

“That's a good question. One more one for the FIA. I believe they have some level of automation. I believe they do have a race control. I'm not sure. Let's have a look at the document when it comes out.

“Why this was so late and why wasn't it picked up live. There were plenty to have picked up live.”

The FIA’s Explanation and Admission

The stewards later clarified the blunder.

“During Q1, Car 27 clearly exceeded track limits in turn 11,” they stated. “However this was not reported to the Stewards until Q2 had commenced. Car 27’s time recorded on the lap that track limits were exceeded, was sufficient to place it in Q2.

“Hence at the time the Stewards were informed that Car 27 had breached the Race Directors Event Notes and that its lap should have been deleted, it was already on track in Q2.”

They resolved the issue under Article 11.9.2.a of the FIA International Sporting Code.

The FIA admitted their error, with a spokesperson explaining, “There are a number of track limit hot spots which are monitored continuously live,” he explained.

“Track limit hot spots are given precedence. Based on previous sessions, Turn 11 was not deemed to be an area of focus for track limits. In hindsight, it should have been higher on our priority list as a corner.

“Checks in areas of the circuit such as Turn 11 take a bit longer than those of a high priority. Unfortunately, in this case due to the timing of the check it was not possible to act before the start of Q2. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we acted on it.

“We are building towards increased resources and improved systems and processes. On this occasion, we got it wrong.”

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