Williams fined for wing footage breach ahead of Chinese GP Sprint

Williams has been fined €50,000 - mostly suspended - after failing to properly install SD cards in onboard cameras due to a procedural mix-up with the FIA.

Williams has been fined €50,000, with €40,000 suspended until 31 December 2025, for "failing to provide the video files recorded by the wireless forward and rearward facing cameras in the specified timescale." Specifically, this is a breach of Articles 12.2.1 i.

The TD034L was issued on 19th March 2025, which states:

"Teams are responsible for ensuring that cameras are fitted with a suitably formatted (FAT32 or exFAT format) and empty SD card at least 10 minutes prior to the start of any session during which the cameras are to be fitted."

The issue has stemmed from the Grove outfit believing that the cameras came fitted with SD cards provided by the FIA, however, this was a misunderstanding.

The official statement from the FIA explained:

"They noticed during the middle of the session that there was a red flashing light in the cameras and reported that to the Technical Delegate. However, they did not know what the flashing light meant and in any event, it was too late to fit the SD card(s) by then.

"When the absence of the SD cards was discovered after the session, the team did not report the fact of their failure to install the SD cards to the Technical Delegate.

"For avoidance of doubt, there was no suggestion that the wings were not in compliance with the bodywork flexibility requirements under the Technical Regulations."

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Williams: Full team statement

"We had concerns over the cameras not working in FP1, and as a result were in dialogue with the FIA throughout the session. Following the session, the FIA and ourselves have reviewed all procedures, and we can confirm that the failure to provide footage in the allotted time was down to a miscommunication, and internal processes will be addressed as a result so that this does not reoccur. For completeness we provided all footage as requested in Melbourne with no issue and will continue to support the FIA and provide all required footage in a timely manner going forwards.

"We have no concerns over the legality of our wing. It is the same wing we ran in Melbourne, is fully compliant and we did not have to make any adjustments further to the issuing of the new TD. Yesterday’s issue was procedural, and we are confident that we will provide all future recordings without issue.

"We understand that to ensure fair policing of technical regulations the FIA issued the resulting fine and we thank them for the constructive conversations and measured handling of this matter."