As the rain misted a chronically dry Sakhir during one of Formula 1’s preseason testing sessions, loud whispers echoed through the paddock and onto social media about the pace of one back-of-the-pack team, but more specifically, one driver: ex-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
At Sunday’s first race of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Melbourne, Williams proved that the anticipated hype was justified. But it was Alex Albon, not Sainz, who wowed with a fifth-place finish.
“We were running P7, P6 for the whole race,” Albon, who claimed he was under-driving due to the slippery conditions, said post-race.
“We had good pace, even on the restarts the car felt really strong. It’s exciting, it will be an exciting year, so tight out there.”
Sainz, the Spanish driver who swapped from Ferrari to Williams after Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at the Scuderia, failed to complete a full lap during the Australian Grand Prix. His royal blue-clad car spun in damp track conditions, with Sainz blaming a “massive torque surge.”
Sainz made a risky decision taking up Williams on its offer to sign to the team, but he showed significant pace ahead of the season in tests and landed in the top three on Friday’s first free practice session.
However, it was Albon who first took the Williams risk. After leaving the sport following an axe from Red Bull, the Thai-British driver signed with Williams in 2022. Albon signed a multi-year contract extension last year.
Williams has nine Formula 1 World Constructors’ Championship titles to its name, and a kind of homegrown success to go with it. But for newer fans, the team has a track record of crumpled cars and last-place finishes. In 2024, Williams crashed in 20 out of 24 races.
Despite this, Albon has seen a future at the team most have failed to: “This is a long-term project that I really believe in and want to play a key role in which is why I have signed a multi-year contract.
“The journey will take time, but I am confident we are building the right team to move forward and achieve great things in the years to come,” Albon said in May while re-signing his contract.
Albon, who out-qualified Sainz on Saturday with a P6 to his teammate’s P10, was expected to have to measure up to the Spaniard who came from a title-fighting team.
If Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix proved anything, the two are working towards a similar goal: returning Williams to glory.
