Williams F1 handed FIA fine after floor stickers STOPPED Qatar qualifying

Williams F1 team have been handed an FIA fine after a bizarre floor sticker issue brought Qatar Grand Prix qualifying to a halt on Saturday.

The evening session at the Lusail International Circuit followed on from the sprint earlier that day and determined the starting order for Sunday's main event.

After a fairly clean start to proceedings in Q1 and Q2, Charles Leclerc brought some gravel onto the track having suffered a major spin, whilst Carlos Sainz was released from the pit lane with plastic wrapped around his tyre.

Sainz immediately reported the issue over team radio with Williams confirming that his car had a floor sticker stuck underneath it.

It eventually flew off onto the track, which led to qualifying being red-flagged, briefly stopping the session altogether in order for marshals to remove it.

Qualifying resumed at 10pm local time (AST) and Williams were investigated after the session for releasing Sainz's car in an 'unsafe condition'.

The Grove-based outfit have now been handed the stewards verdict and slapped with a fine.

FIA announce Williams verdict after Sainz incident

Car 55 (Sainz) was released from the pits with floor stickers from the garage attached to the rear tyres, which was an infringement breach of Article 34.14 c) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

Having heard from the Williams team representative and reviewed video and team radio video evidence, the stewards determined that the F1 team should be fined €5,000.

An official statement from the FIA read: “The team advised that it had been using this floor sticker since mid-season and had not previously experienced any problems with it peeling off the floor.

“However ultimately the team is responsible for ensuring that the car is not released in an unsafe condition and video evidence showed that the driver had great difficulty in controlling the car, thus the stewards determine that this was an unsafe situation.”

READ MORE: F1 Qualifying Results: Qatar GP times and grid positions

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