A strong qualifying session for Williams in Australia: the British team aims to confirm its pace in the race under the threat of rain.
At the end of the qualifying session, in which Lando Norris’ McLaren provided further proof of being the car to beat this season, the Albert Park circuit delivered another interesting surprise on this Italian Saturday morning: Williams. The team led by James Vowles had already shown great form in the first free practice session, where Carlos Sainz set the 2nd fastest time and Alex Albon the 6th – a trend consistently maintained by the British squad throughout the rest of the sessions, with the new driver pairing never dropping below 12th place.
Coming off a season where scoring points was an arduous task and sleepless nights were required to get the cars back on track, Williams mechanics worked hard on the FW47 project—the last under the current ground-effect regulations—to improve performance on single-lap pace in qualifying and race pace.
At the end of qualifying in Melbourne, it can be said that the mission was accomplished, with Alex Albon securing a remarkable sixth place with a lap time of 1:15.737—a redemption compared to his Q2 elimination on the Australian track last year. Additionally, Carlos Sainz, in his first official race weekend with Williams, will start from P10, looking to fight his way up the grid.
“We were aiming for the top ten, so P6 is fantastic and I’m very happy,” the Thai driver stated in his post-session comments. “We have a great car, easy to drive, predictable; this year, it feels much more drivable. It’s really tight out there, and it’s going to be a dogfight in the midfield this year, but this is a great place for us to start. “.
Williams’ main challenge will be against Alpine, the first team that seems to have gained an advantage compared to its 2024 performance. However, Alex Albon is confident about the team’s potential over the course of the season, emphasizing that “it also feels like Qualifying is not even the best part of the car; the biggest improvement we’ve made is in race pace.”
“We’ve worked hard back at Grove. We have paid attention to every detail this season, we are starting at the right weight, and we are in a much better place than we were a year ago. Looking at where we were a year ago compared to now, the situation is completely different. I’m very proud of the team today, and the vibes are good. We’re expecting rain tomorrow, and no one has run on Intermediates or Wets yet, so let’s see what happens ,” the No. 23 continued.
Rain is indeed forecasted for tomorrow in Melbourne, which could delay the race by an hour. However, as we well know, wet conditions can shake up the order and deliver an unexpected conclusion to the weekend, bringing plenty of action on track.
Photo: Atlassian Williams Racing.