James Vowles confirms urgent investigation into "bitterly disappointing" double-DSQ in Singapore

James Vowles has released a statement after both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were disqualified from the Singapore GP qualifying

Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles has released a statement after both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were disqualified from the Singapore Grand Prix qualifying session. The Briton confirmed that the Grove outfit has launched an urgent investigation into how this happened.

After Albon and Sainz initially qualified in 12th and 13th on the grid at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the FIA found their cars to be in breach of technical regulations regarding the DRS.

"During post-qualifying scrutineering, the rear wing of the car was found to be noncompliant with the Technical Regulations," the FIA stated.

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

Vowles has since released the following statement: "During FIA scrutineering after Qualifying, the rear wings on both our cars failed DRS slot gap checks.

"As a result, Alex and Carlos have been disqualified from Qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix. This is bitterly disappointing for the team and we are urgently investigating how this happened.

"At no point were we seeking a performance advantage and the rear wings had passed our own checks earlier in the day, but there is only one measurement that matters and we fully accept the FIA ruling.

"We have a car capable of scoring points here this weekend and will do everything we can to fight from the back of the grid tomorrow, and will immediately review our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again."

As a result, Albon and Sainz will start the Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

Mercedes' George Russell secured pole position and Red Bull's Max Verstappen will start beside him on the front row in second.