Uncovered: What the ‘dig down’ revealed about Williams’ Singapore GP DSQ

Williams team principal James Vowles says a deep dive into Williams’ double Singapore Grand Prix qualifying disqualification revealed that a “number of systems” either weren’t in place or up to date, including the tool used to measure the DRS.

Williams had both cars thrown out of qualifying at the Marina Bay Circuit after the FW47’s rear wings failed post-qualifying inspection.

Williams ‘have a long way to go before we’re at a championship level’

The stewards’ ruling read: “During post-qualifying scrutineering, the rear wing of the car was found to be noncompliant with the Technical Regulations.

“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked. The DRS in the state of deployment exceeded the maximum limit of 85 mm on both sides of the rear wing outer area.

“At the hearing, the Competitor admitted that, although their own measurement prior to the qualifying had shown the component to be within tolerance, the measurement subsequently conducted by the appointed FIA Officials revealed a larger gap than permitted and therefore the rear wing did not conform with the required dimension.”

Both cars were disqualified from qualifying, but were given dispensation to race.

Carlos Sainz, who had qualified P13, lined up 18th on the grid and raced his way to 10th place while Alex Albon, who was 12th in qualifying, started from the pit lane as Williams opted to make set-up changes to his car. He finished outside of the points in 14th place.

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For Williams it was very much a missed opportunity.

One the team could’ve avoided had its tools and systems been up to date.

“Singapore was a just reminder that we have a long way to go before we’re at a championship level,” team principal Vowles started by saying in his ‘The Vowles Verdict’ on the Williams YouTube channel.

“In terms of what happened, we were legal across pretty much most of the span of the wing. What we do is open up, turn on the car engine, open up the DRS and use a tool that we have and the FIA have as well in order to test along the length of that.

“And it passed pretty much in most locations apart from at the very edge of the wing.

“But irrespective that’s still illegal to the regulations.

“When we actually dig down underneath all of that, we can actually track it down to a number of systems and processes that simply weren’t in place, weren’t up to date, and even the tool that we had didn’t properly mirror the tool that the FIA had as well, which could have allowed for discrepancy.

“Now, this is just one of a thousand tests that can be carried out by the FIA. But irrespective, all of them are as important as each other, and it’s our duty and responsibility to make sure we’re legal to it.”

Joining Williams in 2023, Vowles has spoken about the team’s disadvantage when it comes to tool and infrastructure with Williams not investing much in the latter years under the previous ownership of the Williams family.

Although new owners Dorilton have tried, they have been hamstrung by Formula 1’s cost cap limiting what teams are allowed to spend.

“There are some elements that are 20 years out of date, which makes sense if you think through the history of this team. The investment it had was zero for around about 20 years and then an investment firm came through,” Vowles declared last year.

“Fundamentally, we’re in a situation where a lot of facilities were almost preserved from where they were 20 years ago. Composites is behind what I knew when I first joined the sport with a different team 20 years ago.”

Rival teams, however, blocked Williams’ bid to increase capital expenditure ‘CapEx’, which is what allows teams to invest in systems and infrastructure, spending under the budget cap before agreeing a sliding scale that would help lower tier teams such as Williams.

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