Williams Esports apologise following the use of controversial tactics in the iRacing event

Williams eSports, the F1 racing simulation team, has apologised after its crew was accused of violating team conduct by adopting inappropriate strategies during the recent iRacing Daytona 24.

Williams won the virtual 24 Hours of Daytona, but after the race, footage surfaced accusing the team of misbehaving.

Event problems

The event, which took place on the weekend of January 20-22, became a controversial event in the eSports world when the Williams squad came under fire for its strategies after winning pole position.

During the qualifying session, the first infraction occurred when their driver decided to use the inside platform of the Daytona circuit. Thanks to the infraction, the team wins the pole position. This conduct violates iRacing rules.

The team kept the pole position, even though the driver who completed the lap was disqualified. Several team members defended the qualifying strategy to get the pole position; one was Williams ambassador and F1 champion Jenson Button.

The incidents continued, and the second problem arose, which had to do with unsportsmanlike conduct during a lap. A video revealed that one of the cars, already several laps behind, waited at the pit lane exit to enter the track at the right time to help his teammates, mainly through overtaking. In addition, the second lagging car appeared to ignore the blue flags and thus prevented rival vehicles from moving forward to help the other Williams car.

As in all cases, there was no “live” surveillance; the problems went unnoticed and did not receive a penalty.

Williams’ apology

Williams has already apologized, saying that the behavior of some members of the team

“broke our standard for appropriate team conduct.”

“Following our investigation into the events of iRacing Daytona 24, we find that the actions of some members of the Williams Esports team breached our standard for acceptable team conduct. We apologise wholeheartedly for that both to our fellow competitors and to the wider Esports community,” the statement read.”

The team also denies responsibility for a social media post made during the event. They comment that the post is unavailable and made without the team’s consent.

“We would additionally like to state that the social media post put out by one of our team members was not authorised; nor does it reflect the values of Williams Esports. These opinions are not reflective of the team position and have since been deleted.”

Williams continues to affirm its commitment to fair competition and fighting to win. However, it does not specify whether its drivers face disciplinary sanctions.

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