Williams fined €50,000 after camera infringement in China

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

The Williams Formula 1 team has been fined €50,000 for not providing stewards with video files from their cars within the specified time frame during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. The failure involved not supplying footage from forward and rearward-facing cameras as mandated by a Technical Directive issued on March 19 regarding bodywork flexibility.

Despite Williams' compliance with bodywork flexibility requirements, confusion arose over who was responsible for fitting the cameras with appropriately formatted SD cards. The team assumed the SD cards would come pre-installed by the FIA, leading to a misunderstanding. When detected too late, the SD cards were absent, but the team did not report the failure immediately.

The stewards stated, "TD034L made it clear that: ‘Teams are responsible for ensuring that cameras are fitted with a suitably formatted (FAT32 or exFAT format) and empty SD card at least 10 minutes prior to the start of any session during which the cameras are to be fitted.' It is undisputed by the team that it failed to do so." Hence, the stewards found Williams in breach of the International Sporting Code, leading to a €50,000 fine, with €40,000 suspended until December 31, 2025.

Williams responded, clarifying their consistent compliance history, "We had concerns over the cameras not working in FP1... The failure to provide footage in the allotted time was down to a miscommunication. We have no concerns over the legality of our wing... We will provide all future recordings without issue."

Williams' day was mixed, with Alex Albon qualifying P9 for the Sprint while newcomer Carlos Sainz struggled with seat and balance issues, placing P13.

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