Williams clears Singapore start for Sainz and Albon after DRS disqualifications
Carlos Sainz will race in Singapore after all. So will Alex Albon. Hours after both Williams drivers were thrown out of qualifying for a rear-wing infringement, the FIA has granted permission for the pair to start today’s Grand Prix from the back.
Saturday night ended awkwardly for Williams. Sainz and Albon had parked their FW47s in 12th and 13th, only for post-session checks to find their DRS slot gaps exceeded the 85mm limit when opened. That’s a straight technical breach and an automatic exclusion from the results. Because their qualifying times were nullified, the duo also fell foul—technically—of the 107% rule, forcing the team to ask the stewards for permission to race.
The stewards said yes. Citing Article 39.4 b) of the FIA Sporting Regulations, they ruled that both drivers had set “satisfactory” lap times in practice and could therefore start the race. In line with Article 42.1, they’ll be placed at the back of the grid.
It’s a messy start to a weekend that had quietly promised more for Williams. Sainz, who joined from Ferrari for 2025, looked sharp through practice around Marina Bay’s bumpy, heat-soaked streets. Albon’s long-run pace wasn’t shabby either. Both will now have to convert that into progress from Row 10.
Team principal James Vowles didn’t sugarcoat it. Bitterly disappointing, he called it, insisting there was no intent to gain performance and that both rear wings had passed internal checks earlier in the day. Williams has launched an internal review to understand how the parts later failed the FIA gauge.
The DRS infraction itself is simple: open the flap too wide and you hand the rear wing a little less drag than the rules allow. It’s why the tolerance is policed so tightly. Williams maintains the overage was unintended. Intent doesn’t matter in scrutineering; measurement does.
For Albon, it’s an unwelcome case of déjà vu after a qualifying disqualification at last year’s Dutch GP. For Sainz, it’s another test in a season of change. He’s been steady since switching to Grove, but this is the kind of Sunday where the homework—tyre management, cooling, patience—does the heavy lifting.
What can they salvage? Singapore can be kind to opportunists. Track position is king, but Safety Cars often shuffle the deck, and there’s usually a window to undercut on an early stop if you’re brave with clean air. Both drivers have the craft to make something of it; the FW47’s traction has looked decent all weekend.
Two things to watch:
– Start-tyre gambles. If Williams split strategies—one driver on a harder compound, one on soft—to catch an early neutralisation, they might leapfrog the midfield without a pure pace advantage.
– Temperatures. Running in traffic here is a cooling nightmare. Expect both cars to spend half the race lifting and coasting to keep brake and engine temps alive while still hustling for position.
The broader sting is reputational. Williams has been methodical in 2025, and Sainz’s arrival from Ferrari has tightened its focus. Process errors aren’t part of that plan. Vowles knows it, which is why the team moved quickly with an “urgent investigation” and held its hands up. In a packed midfield, you can’t afford to start on your heels.
Still, the stewards’ call gives Singapore a small subplot: one angry Spaniard and one calm Thai-Brit with a point to prove, both eyeing a recovery drive in a race that rarely runs to script. If the Safety Car gods play ball, this might yet be the sort of afternoon Williams turns into a storyline rather than a footnote.
