Dutch GP Qualifying Aftermath: Hamilton penalised, Albon DQed

Hamilton will now start the race from P15 instead of P12, following his elimination in Q2. The penalty was issued after Hamilton blocked Perez at Turn 9 during Q1, which affected the Red Bull driver's lap time.

The FIA-appointed F1 stewards reported: "The driver of Car 44, being on an in lap, was informed by the team that Car 11 was approaching on a fast lap when he entered Turn 8. He then drove off line at the exit of Turn 8 with the intention to give way for Car 11. However, when Car 11 arrived, Car 44 had already entered Turn 9 and drove back towards the racing line at the exit of Turn 9, thereby clearly impeding Car 11.

"The Stewards determine that, whilst there has been appropriate warning by the team and albeit the driver tried to move out of the way, he could have slowed down more in order not to impede the other car and therefore consider the impeding to be unnecessary in the sense of the regulations. Therefore a grid drop is applied in line with previous decisions."

Separately, Albon who had qualified P8 will now start from the rear of the field thanks to a legality issue with the floor of the heavily updated Williams.

F1.com reported after Qualy that "FIA F1 Technical Delegate Jo Bauer noted a potential problem relating to that floor body after qualifying, with the stewards subsequently investigating the matter.

Thereafter the FIA Stewards found: "The floor body of Car 23 was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.

"The team did not dispute the calibration of the FIA measuring system and the measurement of the car, but stated that their own measurements have produced different results.

"The Stewards determine that the result of the measurement conducted with the FIA system in Parc Ferme is the relevant one and the due process prescribed by the regulations has been followed. Therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement is applied." Namely, disqualification.

Williams reacted: "Unfortunately, Alex has been disqualified from Qualifying due to his floor body being outside the regulatory volume set by the FIA. We are incredibly disappointed with this outcome and will be carrying out a thorough investigation and will provide an update soon." (Quotes from Agnes Carlier)