Parc ferme breach triggers pitlane start for Alex Albon for Austria Sprint

Williams’ Alex Albon during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

Having hinted at making changes overnight, Williams has opted for a pitlane start for Alex Albon after a disappointing qualifying.

The British/Thai racer failed to make it out of SQ1 in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, taking only the 19th-fastest time with a 1:06.754 to finish two-tenths of a second behind Logan Sargeant as the American driver went through to SQ2.

Williams opts for pitlane start

With Williams making changes to the setup of Albon’s car overnight ahead of the Sprint race, the resulting breach of parc ferme regulations means an automatic pitlane start for the Williams driver.

A note from the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer on Saturday morning stated: “The Williams Racing Team has made changes to the set-up of car number 23 [Albon] with the approval of the FIA technical delegate following a written request.

“Therefore, car number 23 should now be required to start from the pit lane according to Article 40.9 of the 2024 Formula One Sporting Regulations.”

This regulation states, “a competitor may not modify any part on the car or make changes to the set-up of the suspension whilst the car is being held under parc ferme conditions.”

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With Albon now facing a stiff challenge to recover during the short race, he explained after Sprint Qualifying that he felt he hadn’t been brave enough in his setup choices ahead of the session.

“I couldn’t quite pull it together through Turn 3 and 4, struggling with the balance and just not able to get around it,” he said.

“I tried to play around with driving styles and tools, but it didn’t really work.

“With one shot in Sprint Qualifying, I just didn’t get it right.

“I regret not being a bit more extreme with my changes from FP1 to Sprint Qualifying, but we’ll make some changes and try to get more out of it tomorrow.”

With the Sprint Qualifying and race being held as entirely different events to the main qualifying and race, Albon’s weekend will start from scratch once the Sprint race is over – giving him a prime opportunity to bounce back in the main event.