Williams fined €50,000 after camera infringement in China

The Williams team have been fined €50,000 for failing to provide stewards with video files from their cars within a specific time frame during the Friday of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

The stewards noted that Williams had “[failed] to provide the video files recorded by the wireless forward and rearward facing cameras in the specified timescale”, going on to issue the British team with a fine of €50,000 – €40,000 of which was suspended until December 31 2025.

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The requirement to provide the video footage had come into force following a Technical Directive issued on March 19 regarding bodywork flexibility, and the monitoring of that with cameras.

However, due to an apparent misunderstanding, Williams failed to provide the video files – although the stewards noted that “there was no suggestion that the wings were not in compliance with the bodywork flexibility requirements under the Technical Regulations”.

Writing in their verdict, the stewards said: “TD034L [the Technical Directive] was issued on 19th March 2025. TD034L addressed the topic of bodywork flexibility in the context of Articles 3.2.2 and 3.15.1 of the Formula One Technical Regulations. TD034L made it clear that: ‘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’.

“It is undisputed by the team that it failed to do so. The reason for the failure was apparently the team’s belief that the cameras would come fitted with SD cards supplied by the FIA. They did not check if they did.

“They apparently relied on an email from the FIA Techincal Delegate to one team member that suggested that the teams could supply their own SD cards. The team claimed that they assumed that the cameras that they installed on their cars were fitted with the SD card supplied by the FIA.

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“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.

“Nevertheless, given that TD034L was clear in placing the responsibility for ensuring that the cameras were fitted with the empty SD card on the team, it was equally clear that the team was not in compliance with the directions in TD034L.

“We therefore find that the team has infringed Article 12.1.1i of the ISC [International Sporting Code] and impose a fine of €50,000 euros on the team of which €40,000 would be suspended until 31st December 2025 subject to the team not committing a similar infringement.”

In response, Williams issued a statement saying: “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.

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“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.”

The fine capped off a mixed day for Williams, with Alex Albon making the final part of Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai to claim P9 on the grid for the Sprint, while new team mate Carlos Sainz struggled with both seat and balance issues, ending up P13.