SHANGHAI (AP) — Williams has been fined 50,000 euros ($54,000) by the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix stewards on Saturday due to a communication error.
The penalty relates to the Williams team's failure to capture onboard video during Friday's practice as it believed the cameras would come pre-loaded with memory SD cards.
The majority of the fine — 40,000 euros ($43,000) — was suspended.
The FIA fitted all the cars with wireless forward and rearward facing cameras in China, with the governing body cracking down on rear wing flexing following the season-opener in Australia with a tougher static load test.
Williams was meant to provide video files from the new camera within an hour of practice finishing, but no data was captured due to the empty SD slots.
“They (Williams) noticed during the middle of the session that there was a red flashing light in the cameras and reported that to the Technical Delegate," the stewards statement said. “However, they did not know what the flashing light meant and, in any event, it was too late to fit the SD card(s) by then.”
"There was no suggestion that the wings were not in compliance with the bodywork flexibility requirements under the Technical Regulations”.
Williams said its internal procedures will be addressed and that all future recordings will be provided without issue.
“We understand that to ensure fair policing of technical regulations the FIA issued the resulting fine and we thank them for the constructive conversations and measured handling of this matter,” said a statement from Williams.
AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one
Williams driver Carlos Sainz of Spain steers his car during the sprint race ahead of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Wu Hao/Pool Photo via AP)
Danish police have sent extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland as the mineral-rich island steps up security measures ahead of a planned visit this week by U.S. second lady Usha Vance, which has stirred new concerns about the Trump administration's interest in the autonomous Danish territory.
Greenland's prime minister lamented a “mess” caused by the visit from Vance, who reportedly will be accompanied by Trump's national security adviser.
Danish National Police spokesman René Gyldensten said Monday the extra officers, deployed the day before, were part of regular steps taken during visits by dignitaries. Citing office procedure, he declined to specify the number of extra police flown on the chartered flight. News reports put the number at dozens.
The visit — in which Vance plans to learn more about Greenland's cultural heritage and see a national dogsled race — comes against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump 's ambition for the United States to seize control of Greenland.
The trip Thursday to Saturday by the wife of Vice President JD Vance and one of their three children has fanned new worry among politicians in Greenland, a self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American and NATO ally Denmark that already houses a U.S. military base.
Media outlets in Greenland and Denmark reported that Vance would be accompanied by Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz. The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Greenlandic news outlet Sermitsiaq posted images of two U.S. Hercules workhorse military aircraft on the tarmac Sunday in Nuuk, the capital, adding that the planes later departed.
On her visit, Vance will attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race, featuring about 37 mushers and 444 dogs. The statement said Vance and the U.S. delegation “are excited to witness this monumental race and celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity.”
Greenland is also in the process of political transition following March 11 elections in which calls for independence from Denmark and concerns about U.S. ambitions were on many voters' minds.
The pro-business Demokraatit party, which favors a slow path to independence, won a surprise victory by outpacing the two left-leaning parties that formed the last government.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, whose party trailed Demokraatit in the elections but remains in the post until a new government is formed, acknowledged Sunday on Facebook that there is worry in Greenland.
The visit of "the wife of the United States vice president and the United States president’s highest security adviser cannot be seen only as a private visit,” he said. “We can already see now, how big a mess it’s caused.”
Egede, who studied in the United States, said there would be no meetings with the U.S. visitors because a new government has yet to be formed.
In an interview in Sermitsiaq, he was quoted as saying that if allied countries “do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase."
“So we need our other allies to clearly and distinctly come with their support and backing for us,” he said, adding that “the only purpose” of a trip by Waltz “is to show a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood.”
Trump had mused during his first term about buying the world’s largest island, even as Denmark, a NATO ally, insisted it wasn’t for sale. The people of Greenland have also firmly rejected Trump’s plans.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. will come to control Greenland while insisting he supports the idea for strategic national security reasons — not with an eye toward American expansionism.
Trump is focused on Greenland because it straddles strategic air and sea routes in the North Atlantic and is home to the U.S.’s Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile warning and space surveillance operations.
Greenland, whose population of 56,000 people are mostly from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds, also has large deposits of the rare-earth minerals needed to make everything from mobile phones to renewable energy technology.
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Keaten reported from Geneva and Gera from Warsaw, Poland.
Boys play on a frozen beach in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
FILE - Usha Vance attends a campaign rally, Nov. 1, 2024, in Selma, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce, File)
