The final minutes of Q1 in Australia have been a real nightmare for Williams. Firstly, Nicholas Latifi was involved in an accident alongside his compatriot Lance Stroll, a driver who was ultimately penalized for the action, while Alex Albon was unable to return to the pits under his own power after finishing 16th.
According to a final report from the stewards, the Thai driver was immobilized due to a fuel problem in the FW44’s tank, specifically because he did not have enough fuel in the tank to be able to return to the pits.
That clearly breaches Formula 1 rules, which stipulate that each car must have a liter of petrol plus the amount needed to return to the pits under its own power when it stops on track after a qualifying lap.
“After qualifying, car number 23 ( Albon ) was checked to see if it had the 1.0 liter sample plus the amount of fuel needed for the car to return to the pits under its own power (0 needed, 15 liters calculating the position where it stopped)”, reads the report of the FIA technical delegate, Jo Bauer .
“It was only possible to take a sample of 0.33 liters following the procedures established in Article 6.5.4 of the 2022 Formula 1 Technical Regulations. Therefore, I refer this matter to the Stewards for their respective review, since this does not comply with what is written in Article 6.5.2 of the 2022 Formula 1 Technical Regulations”.
Finally and after reviewing the case, the stewards decided to disqualify Alex Albon from qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
However, after a request from Williams to allow the Thai driver to be part of the race, the stewards granted him such permission, so that tomorrow Albon will finally be able to participate in the Australian GP.
Last year, Sebastian Vettel was ruled out of the Hungarian GP race for the same offence, despite finishing second to Esteban Ocon.
It should be noted that Albon had already been penalized three places on the grid in Melbourne after his accident, also with Stroll , in Jeddah. So he was actually going to start from 19th place, so starting from pit lane won’t change his situation too much either.
