Hamilton’s sanction and Williams’ worrying disqualification

Busy day for stewards in Zandvoort. two important penalties that will affect Sunday’s draw. Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Perez in Q1. He qualified 12th and would finally start 14th. The officials realised the Englishman had been notified of Checo’s arrival and had pulled away at the exit of Turn 8, but by the time the Red Bull pounced on him at the entrance to Turn 9 the Mercedes was still there, forcing the Mexican out of control. . Perez to start fifth but Hamilton will struggle to finish on podium which has hardly fallen since June.

Except, Alex Albon has been disqualified due to technical faults in his Williams. The flat floor of the FW46 model that debuted this weekend failed the checks of the team of Jo Bauer. Some time later, the stewards confirmed the disqualification, since the Grays are unlikely to commit such infringements. The team did not question the measurements taken by the FIA ​​stewards, although they said that their own measurements were different. In recent cases, the FIA ​​has allowed drivers in similar situations to start from the back of the car (once the infringement is corrected), so it is clear that Albon will be able to start the Dutch Grand Prix.

Logan Sargeant will also be able to take part, having missed out on Q1 because his car crashed and caught fire in Free Practice 3, leaving the mechanics with no time to repair and rebuild the car before qualifying. The stewards acknowledged that Williams had completed qualifying laps (within 107% of pole). and will allow the car to leave last or with pit lane. In any case, the weekend in Oxford looks very difficult, a few weeks after the joy they felt when they signed Carlos Sainz. Although Albon has been quite competitive so far (he qualified eighth, just behind Alonso, before the disqualification), Zandvoort has had to pay a heavy price for Sargeant’s accident and the harshest sanction a team can receive. Although it is not the biggest blow they are taking in 2024: in Australia they were only able to race with one car, because they did not have a spare chassis after Albon’s hard crash in free practice.