The FIA has handed suspended fine to Williams after they failed to provide video footage of the front wing from FP1 in F1 Chinese GP.
As per the TD034L issued on March 19 to all the 10 F1 teams, they were asked to provide additional footage of their rear wing to the FIA from F1 Chinese GP onward as they monitored the flexibility of the wings. It is part of the ongoing crackdown to identify if teams are using the loophole.
Everything was fine with Williams in Australia, but they were summoned on Saturday after discrepancy found on Friday. It was noted that the British outfit did not provide the FIA with video footage from the rear wing for the technical delegate to see-through the data to monitor.
When the investigation was done, it was understood that there was miss communication with regards to the SD cards. The team was in the loop that the FIA’s camera came with a SD card, while the governing body had given the green signal for teams to use one of their own.
By the time, the team realised that there was no SD card, it was too late. Williams immediately informed the FIA but the breach was done. And so, they handed the F1 team a fine of 50,000 euros, where 40,000 euros remains suspended until December 1 of 2025, provided they do not commit the same mistake.
The team understands the reasoning of the fine and has accepted it. “We had concerns over the cameras not working in FP1, and as a result were in dialogue with the FIA throughout the session,” a statement said. “Following the session, the FIA and ourselves have reviewed all procedures, and we can confirm that the failure to provide footage in the allotted time was down to a miscommunication, and internal processes will be addressed as a result so that this does not re-occur.
“For completeness we provided all footage as requested in Melbourne with no issue and will continue to support the FIA and provide all required footage in a timely manner going forwards. We have no concerns over the legality of our wing. It is the same wing we ran in Melbourne. Is fully compliant and we did not have to make any adjustments further to the issuing of the new TD.
“Yesterday’s issue was procedural and we are confident that we will provide all future recordings without issue. 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.”
Here’s FIA note: https://x.com/fia/status/1903266865801011511
