Teamwork Triumphs: Williams F1 Racing's Long-Term Vision Pays Off in Melbourne

18 March 2025

Atlassian Williams Racing may be looking to the future, but they started the new Formula One season in Melbourne with 10 points and a fifth place finish for 28 year old driver Alex Albon. That represented their best start to a campaign for nine years. It demonstrates the development of the team, who now have a title sponsor as well as other partners, and also suggests that their journey is going to plan.

The pre-season talk at Williams had stressed that the team is focused more, perhaps, on 2026 than on the current campaign. Next year, regulation changes demand re-engineered cars with all-new active aerodynamics. Williams team principal James Vowles had warned that although the team will look to perform well in 2025, “2026 and beyond is where we can make significant strides”.

The drivers have bought into this long-term vision, with Albon and new signing Carlos Sainz committed to helping the team develop a car that will be competitive from the get-go next year. In this truly collaborative effort between the engineers, the tech guys, the management, and the men in the driving seat, the aim is to take Williams back to the highest level.

Sainz, who joined the British team from Ferrari, explained that he wanted to be part of what he described as an “iconic” team.

“I saw a team full of motivation, full of ambition to be back at the front of the field and that challenge motivated me to join, to try with all my skill set to help the team as much as possible to get back there as soon as possible.”

The 30 year old partners Albon, who is in his fourth year with Williams. The Thai and British driver, two years Sainz’s junior, says he can learn a great deal from his new teammate.

“Carlos is a huge addition to the team. Firstly, he's extremely quick. He's come off, I think, one of his best seasons in Formula One. So, to get him in such a huge moment in his career is a huge benefit to all of us. He's going to come with that wealth of experience from Ferrari which can only help us with our development and progression as a team .”

That said, Albon has plenty of experience as well, having gone through some tough times with Williams. He says that there’s a real buzz about the team now– and insists that he will play an influential role in the future.

“I've been a part of this journey for a long time now and I've seen where we were at the beginning, and I see where we are now. I know there's unfinished fit business and still a lot of room to grow… I see myself much more now as a team leader and someone who can really make an impact.”

He lived up to his expectations in Melbourne: he out-qualified Sainz with a P6 to his teammate’s P10, and fared significantly better than the Spaniard in the challenging conditions on race day. Albon came in 5th, securing those first precious points of 2025; while Sainz was one of six drivers who didn't finish the race.

Even so, the Spaniard, according to Vowles, proved his worth. Rather than simply watching on from the paddock, Sainz took up a spot in the Williams garage and acted as an “additional strategist”, sharing his insights on how best to manage the wet-dry-wet conditions. For the team principal, this demonstrated that he has the right men at the wheel of the FW47. He described them as “two leaders who really want this team to be back where it deserves to be, at the front.”

Albon, delighted with his finish, had said that he and Sainz would push each other. Perhaps knowing that his illustrious ex-Ferrari colleague was watching on super-charged his motivation in Melbourne!