Williams’ teammates Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant both had the chance to get in the top 10 of the Belgian GP – but were jeopardised by tyre issues.
They ended up finishing in 14th and 17th place, respectively, which came as a shock to their fans.
Williams team principal, James Vowles, claims that “broken cake tins” are the reason for their subpar standings.
This came after both drivers addressed their car’s severe tyre degradation.
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It was apparent that both drivers struggled in Sector 2, as sliding around the track with degraded tyres was surely a tricky task.
The ‘cake tins’ in question refer to the carbon surrounds inside the wheels attached to the car (also called nozzles).
These tins serve the purpose of regulating the heat flow between the scalding brake disc and the tyres.
Without proper carbon surrounds, or with broken ones, the temperature of the tyre rises rapidly which causes extreme degeneration.
Vowles addressed the issue, saying: “Their cake tins were broken, broken probably during a pit stop, but it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly where.
“I’m fairly convinced that that’s part of the reason why we suddenly had very significant degradation.
“That’s why the beginning of the race looked almost so different to the end of the race.”
After the race, Alborn shared: “I had to drive slowly in Sector 2 to save my tyres, but then I was getting overtaken in Sector 2.
“So then I was having to push in Sector 2, which was then degrading my tyres even more.
“It was just like a downward spiral.”
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Sargeant agreed with Alborn’s sentiments, saying “To be honest, it was a really good first four, five laps.
“After that, we really struggled on the medium tyre to make it last.”
At least now Vowles seems confident that the broken surrounds were the root of the issue, although he is unsure as to where and how they got broken.