Williams boss frustrated after deleted lap controversy

As Qualifying 1 ended, Albon had recorded only the 16th best time to be one of five drivers eliminated from the session.

However, and investigation into a track limits violation for Nico Hulkenberg that was only resolved significantly later revealed the Williams driver should have in fact progressed to Qualifying 2.

“First of all, it’s frustrating, because Q1 is ever-so tight now, you can see cars do three runs, the cars that are slightly better do two – that’s where we were,” Vowles told Sirius XM.

“We didn’t get the best lap with Alex, but it was a top 10 car today.”

There were a total of eight deleted laps in Qualifying according to a post-session report issued by the FIA.

Hulkenberg’s name does not appear on the list,  nor does the lap in question, though Lance Stroll, Max Verstappen, Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar, Kimi Antonelli, and Lewis Hamilton do.

Of the eight laps that do appear, four were meaningful with the others set on the way into or out of the pit lane.

In the case of the four deleted laps listed, they were dealt with quickly.

“Some of the laps, you can see from the FIA, they were very quick to respond on – Verstappen, Tsunoda – and typically their timeline should be seconds after it happens,” Vowles said.

“Good question on why this one wasn’t because the impact is: brilliant, he’s moved behind us, but that’s of no bearing to the fact that we’re probably six to eight places out of position, and that hasn’t been corrected, and it won’t be corrected either for tomorrow.”

Curiously, Hulkenberg’s track limits breach was not penalised on the spot and progressed to a stewards hearing.

“During Q1, Car 27 clearly exceeded track limits in turn 11,” the resulting report 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.

“As this is an unusual situation, the Stewards have decided to settle the matter by exercising their authority under Article 11.9.2.a of the FIA International Sporting Code.”

The International Sporting Code article cited essentially affords stewards the right to resolve problems as they see fit, with the logical outcome in this instance removal of Hulkenberg’s time and a shuffling of the order accordingly.

However, it fails to explain why the initial delay occurred.

“The FIA have expanded their operations to Geneva,” Vowles reasoned.

“I’m sure that there’s a lot that they’re having to look at, and I’m many regards we should be thankful that they looked back at a lap that happened 30 minutes prior.

“But we need to understand from them what can be done better in this circumstance, because the impact isn’t one position anymore, it’s quite significant.”

Vowles admitted his team did not flag Hulkenberg’s lap at the time, reasoning the governing body could do without the interruption and trusted the process.

“We saw that his lap, from the onboard – which is all that we have available to us – was marginal,” the Williams boss said.

“We don’t swamp the FIA with messages because to do so would make their life more difficult; we trust that they are going through the process as we were, and the situation.

“That’s one of the discussions I want to have with them,” he added.

“Perhaps there’s a reason behind this that will make a lot more sense, and if there is then we can all put it to bed and move on.”

With his lap deleted, Hulkenberg was ultimately classified 16th in Qualifying, with Albon 15th and Esteban Ocon, who crashed out of Qualifying 2 without setting a time, was classified 14th.

It’s not the only change to the grid, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli each taking a one-place penalty after Mercedes released the pair into pit lane too early following Ocon’s crash.

Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin, who is filling in for sporting director Ron Meadows this weekend, held his hand up to the mistake admitting it was unintentional and a result of human error.

It was an argument the stewards agreed with, however it was still deemed worthy of a one-place penalty as there could have been a sporting advantage.

That drops Russell from second on the grid to third behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, while Antonelli slips to fifth, behind Pierre Gasly.