Rush to Gain Tow Leads to Bizarre Airbox Fan Blunder for Williams at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Williams' unusual error of leaving an airbox fan on Alex Albon's car clarified

Williams accidentally left an airbox fan on Alex Albon's Formula 1 car during qualifying, reports Lewis Larkam from Baku.

According to Alex Albon, the reason an airbox fan was left on his Williams F1 car during qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was due to a hurried attempt to catch the tow.

In an unusual mishap at the start of Q3, Albon had to stop his car on the side of the track right after leaving the pits because a cooling airbox had accidentally been left on his vehicle.

Witnesses observed Albon removing the fan from his vehicle and discarding it onto the side of the track. He secured the 10th spot in the qualifiers for Sunday's race in Baku, but now has to wait nervously to find out if he will retain his position after being called to meet with the stewards.

Albon described the experience as somewhat hectic, similar to Monza. He believes this track is actually better for getting a tow compared to Monza, since the exit is at a lower speed and you don't lose as much in the turbulent air.

"We aimed to close the gaps and were eager to pull away from the garage to start moving, but unfortunately, we left a fan on the car. It's frustrating, but it's better that it happened in Q3 rather than in Q1 or Q2."

"Clearly, it was an error, and we will examine and evaluate it. However, such incidents occur, and I'm not blaming the team. I understand that mistakes can happen occasionally, and our priority is to ensure it doesn't recur."

Detailing the event, James Vowles, the team principal of Williams, explained to SiriusXM: "The primary cause was the extremely brief turnaround time. It was approximately 40 seconds, which is significantly less than usual."

"You could observe all the drivers vying for the best spot in the pit lane. Alex, displaying great courtesy, slowed down and allowed everyone to go ahead of him."

The moment he took that action, we found ourselves struggling with timing. This led to a high-pressure scenario, something the team usually handles efficiently every single week.

In this specific instance, and for reasons I will explain, we opted to install a permanent fan instead of using a temporary one, as that was the actual solution needed. Typically, you can't install something permanent in just 40 seconds, but you can if you have five minutes.

"Consequently, one of the required inspections was not performed, and the vehicle was released without it. However, there was still an opportunity to identify the issue. Therefore, there were two points of failure that need to be addressed."

"Why did we choose a permanent solution when a temporary one might have been better? Could we have detected the issue sooner? Because even with a temporary fix, he could have completed a lap."

"The downside is that. What I appreciate about our current situation is the absence of blame. We share victories and defeats as a collective. It's straightforward. We will return, ensure we don't make the same mistake, and progress."

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