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Monaco‘s pitlane is already the tightest stretch of real estate in Formula 1. Williams managed to make it even more dangerous during Saturday’s qualifying session, earning a formal warning and a €5,000 fine after a pitlane maneuver by AlexAlbon forced a Racing Bullsmechanic to narrowly dodge having his foot run over.
A pitlane incident involving Albon and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad had been noted by the stewards during Q2, and after reviewing positioning data, video, team radio, and in-car footage, the verdict wasn’t kind to Williams. Carlos Sainz‘s car was already stationary in front of the Williams garage when Albon arrived. Rather than waiting, Albon drove around Sainz, and in doing so, temporarily blocked Lindblad from entering his own pit stop position. The near-miss wasn’t with the car. It was with one of the mechanics attending to Albon’s machine.
The penalty landed on the competitor, not the driver, a formal warning for the team and the €5,000 fine for the safety breach. Williams apparently conceded as much during the hearing, with team representatives acknowledging the situation could have been managed differently. The stewards noted that the more significant concern wasn’t the traffic obstruction itself, but the risk to personnel on the ground.
Both Albon and Lindblad were eliminated in Q2, joining Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Gabriel Bortoleto in missing out on the top-ten shootout.
So the incident cost Williams nothing in terms of lap time or grid position. It did cost them money and a warning that will sit on their record.
It wasn’t Williams’ first visit to the stewards this weekend either. Albon had already been clocked at 60.2km/h in FP3, earning the team a separate fine for speeding in the pitlane.
Monaco operates a 60 km/h pit lane speed limit – the tightest on the calendar. Albon apparently tested that limit in practice, then created a more serious problem in qualifying. A difficult afternoon for a team that was already having a difficult weekend.
Continue reading...
A pitlane incident involving Albon and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad had been noted by the stewards during Q2, and after reviewing positioning data, video, team radio, and in-car footage, the verdict wasn’t kind to Williams. Carlos Sainz‘s car was already stationary in front of the Williams garage when Albon arrived. Rather than waiting, Albon drove around Sainz, and in doing so, temporarily blocked Lindblad from entering his own pit stop position. The near-miss wasn’t with the car. It was with one of the mechanics attending to Albon’s machine.
Williams Took the Hit, Not Albon
The penalty landed on the competitor, not the driver, a formal warning for the team and the €5,000 fine for the safety breach. Williams apparently conceded as much during the hearing, with team representatives acknowledging the situation could have been managed differently. The stewards noted that the more significant concern wasn’t the traffic obstruction itself, but the risk to personnel on the ground.
Both Albon and Lindblad were eliminated in Q2, joining Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Gabriel Bortoleto in missing out on the top-ten shootout.
So the incident cost Williams nothing in terms of lap time or grid position. It did cost them money and a warning that will sit on their record.
It wasn’t Williams’ first visit to the stewards this weekend either. Albon had already been clocked at 60.2km/h in FP3, earning the team a separate fine for speeding in the pitlane.
Monaco operates a 60 km/h pit lane speed limit – the tightest on the calendar. Albon apparently tested that limit in practice, then created a more serious problem in qualifying. A difficult afternoon for a team that was already having a difficult weekend.
Continue reading...
