Once one of the most feared teams on the grid, the Williams name has languished at the bottom of the grid for almost a decade. Seldom would they appear to be in contention for points, let alone wins and podiums. But that seems to be changing this year, with the Carlos Sainz-Alex Albon partnership doing wonders so far.
When James Vowles took over as a team principal in 2023, he emphasized he aimed to take the iconic Williams name back to the top. And a little over a year later, they look on course to becoming a contender for the ‘best of the rest tag’ in the F1 midfield.
Albon has scored the majority of points this season. 20, to be exact. In contrast, Sainz has just 5. But, collectively, their aim appears to be Williams’ success, which was evidenced by their performance at the Saudi Arabian GP last weekend.
In the closing stages, Sainz in P8 and Albon in P9 were under stress by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who was closing in fast. That’s when Sainz chose to give his teammate DRS, allowing Albon to stay close and gain a boost. Using this tactic, Sainz effectively dragged Albon away from Hadjar’s charging RB, securing P8 and P9 for the team. The result delivered six valuable points—double what they would’ve earned had Hadjar overtaken Albon.
“I think they worked extremely well,” commentator Ben Edwards said on the Midweek F1 podcast. “I actually do think that, as a combination of drivers, Carlos and Alex is a really good mix.”
“They have slightly different talents in slightly different directions, but the fact that they were working together for the team, if they can keep that up, I think there’s a real opportunity for them to keep scoring well,” Edwards added.
Summing up Saudi with our points-scoring duo
Take it away, Alex and Carlos ✌️
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 20, 2025
Edwards acknowledged that Williams isn’t a championship-contending outfit but still feels Sainz and Albon can guide them to success in the midfield battle. “If they can keep well up in that line of midfield F1 teams, that’s fantastic.”
It’s still early days in the season, but so far, Williams looks to be the fastest team behind the big four—McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
As of now, the British team is P5 in the standings with 25 points. Getting ahead of those will be a herculean task, but as far as Williams is concerned, they want to hold on to fifth after round 24.
But for how long? Vowles have often reiterated that Williams’ priority is the 2026 regulations. With that they eye to make an upward jump as the new regulations generally reset the competition. If 2025 is a topsy-turvy journey ahead, it could propel them to lose the focus on this year, and work more on next year’s car.
