Both cars in Q3 and a strong sixth place from Alexander Albon: Williams proved that their best time in testing in Bahrain was no fluke.
The best time of the week at the test in Bahrain was no fluke. Of course, no one expected Williams to suddenly have the fastest car in Australia, but the team’s progress is clear to see. Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon both made it into Q3, where the Thai driver in particular then shone.
His reward for his performance: sixth place ahead of both Ferrari drivers. “I’m very happy with my lap,” said Albon happily. “I feel like I got the most out of it.”
Until Q3, however, it didn’t actually look like Williams would even be able to make it into the third row of the grid. The team was struggling quite a bit with the tires, which Albon describes as “super sensitive”.
“Sector 3 was actually a bit of a lottery at the beginning. It was hard to understand why the tire was going in one direction or another,” he says. “And then, on my last attempt of the day, I somehow managed to get the lap time out.”
Only: That didn’t make Albon “Best of the Rest”, because Yuki Tsunoda was able to outpace him by 0.067 seconds to take an unexpected fifth place. But he’s happy with that: “Yuki told me he got a slipstream from McLaren,” he laughs. “So I don’t know if that made the difference.”
Hear from Alex after a mega qualifying result
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 15, 2025
“I think it also confirms how close the field is,” he continues, believing that Williams, Racing Bulls and Alpine could all have finished fifth under the right conditions. “It’s going to be a tough fight in the midfield and we’re also getting closer to the top teams. It’s going to be a really interesting season.”
Sainz “very proud” of the team
And in that, Williams finally wants to be back in the front midfield. The unfortunate start last year, when the team had to struggle with weight and a lack of parts, has been forgotten. “It feels like we’ve approached this weekend very differently than last year,” said Albon.
Carlos Sainz, who sees his choice of team confirmed after his departure from Ferrari, is also pleased. “It was definitely exactly as it should be,” he nods. “Now it’s about working hard, because I see a lot of potential in this team, a lot of potential that I can release from myself.”
“With a team that has full support and with fully operational machinery in the right places, I feel like we are on the right track,” praises the Spaniard, who is ‘very happy’ and ‘very proud’ of the team and how it has improved over the winter.
This is what it means pic.twitter.com/YVB8EvJnxv
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 15, 2025
But qualifying twice for Q3 is just the beginning, because he was not completely satisfied with his performance in tenth place. “I can unlock so much more potential once I understand how to get the lap time in Q3,” he says.
He admits: “I was quite strong in testing and during the weekend, but when it came to Q3, I didn’t know where to find the time and made a few mistakes.” But now he wants to build on that.
Sixth place meaningless in rain race?
Sunday’s race gives him the opportunity to continue learning in the car. Then a special challenge could await, because a lot of rain is forecast. Such conditions always offer teams like Williams a chance for a good result, but Albon also sees a risk in them.
“I feel like P6 means nothing in a race like tomorrow,” he says. Although the team also showed good race pace on Friday, “but because it’s going to be wet tomorrow, we won’t see it.”
“It’s going to be quite unpredictable, to be honest,” he fears, still mindful of the last wet race in Brazil, when Williams had severe problems and returned with a lot of scrap in its luggage.
Franco Colapinto demolished the car in qualifying and the race, and Albon himself was unable to compete after an accident in qualifying because there was not enough time to get two cars race-ready.
This year, he said, they have a “decent car” in the wet, and Williams has “made some decisions this weekend to ensure that we don’t have the same problems as in Brazil if it rains,” the Thai driver said. “I’m confident that we should be able to handle it.”
