Williams forced an unexpected pit stop for Alex Albon at Barcelona, citing a loose onboard camera that threatened race safety.
Safety first, points second
With Albon out of a scoring position, team principal James Vowles warned that a wobbling camera could fall off and trigger a safety car or virtual safety car, thereby risking the entire field.
The decision cut short any chance to run the car further in the race, but it also opened a window for the duo to gather data under race conditions.
Turning a glitch into a test
Vowles explained that the engineering team worked on a list of performance tweaks while Albon re‑joined the track, using the intermittent laps to run a compact test programme.
The downtime was compounded by a second factor: the pit crew was already servicing the other Williams car docked alongside, so a pause was required to avoid overlapping workloads.
What came next for Williams
After addressing the camera, Vowles noted the team updated the car’s setup in the pits and had Albon out again for the remainder of the Grand Prix, turning the setback into a “valuable testing session.”
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