After five GPs, the best-performing midfield team overall has been Williams, which, after securing its second double points finish in Saudi Arabia, has surpassed Haas to take fifth place in the Constructors’ standings. Although not without setbacks, the Grove-based team has so far confirmed the competitiveness it showed in pre-season testing, laying a strong foundation for a season that will not see it lingering at the bottom of the standings as it has in the not-so-distant past. Carlos Sainz is also starting to find his footing after a challenging season start, improving race by race as he gets more familiar with the team’s dynamics and the completely different car compared to the one he had driven just six months ago.
Williams in fifth after the first five races, Albon: “Now we must capitalize on this situation”
Ahead of the start of the 2025 season, rumors from Williams hinted at a year focused on growth, but with a primary eye on 2026, the team’s main focus. Two months later, the team sits as the strongest midfield contender after Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz secured the team’s second double points finish of the season at the Saudi Arabian GP. This result follows other encouraging numbers for the team. So far, Williams has always reached Q3 with at least one car, and on Sundays, points have been scored four out of five times. A positive record that confirms what was seen during winter testing, where the British team seemed to be the most prepared among the midfield teams. At the same time, the first five GPs have shown how the balance of power can shift between competitors in this part of the grid, even within the same race weekend.
In light of this, after the race in Jeddah, Alex Albon emphasized the importance of extracting the maximum potential from the FW-47 every weekend. In an interview his teammate Carlos Sainz had given during the Bahrain test, the Spaniard had mentioned that with next year’s regulatory changes in mind, the team’s technical focus would soon shift toward 2026. This is something that involves all teams, but in the case of a team aiming for fifth in the Constructors’ standings and a competitive car for the next season, it can be a tough challenge. For this reason, Alex Albon stressed the need to “bank some points,” also considering the progress direct competitors might make with updates for the current season. “We don’t know when the next midfield team will bring an update, and when they do, our race might be over,” said the Thai driver after the last GP. “So right now, we just need to maximize every weekend. I think we’ve been the best team in the midfield so far this year. We definitely have one of the strongest cars, that’s for sure. I’m enjoying it, but now we need to take advantage of the situation.”
Carlos Sainz’s growth after a difficult start
One of the drivers who has paid the price for switching teams between 2024 and 2025 is definitely Carlos Sainz, who has struggled in the early races of the season to adapt to the Williams car, which is completely different from the SF-24. This has been reflected in his internal battle with Albon, who leads in the head-to-head, both in qualifying and in the race. The Thai driver has the advantage, 3-2 in Saturday’s performances, and 3-1 in Sunday’s (excluding Bahrain, where Carlos Sainz retired). The encouraging news for the Spanish driver is that this score has improved over the past two weekends, showing the first signs of progress as he adapts to the team. Looking at single-lap performance, the growth has been quite significant, as the Spaniard went from being over four-tenths behind in Melbourne and almost three-tenths in Shanghai, to qualifying for Q3 both in Bahrain and Jeddah, where Albon was eliminated. The trend has also been similar in terms of race pace. After retiring in the opening race in Australia, Carlos Sainz was almost four-tenths behind his teammate in China, a gap that increased to seven-tenths in Japan. After the zero in Bahrain, Carlos Sainz had his best race with Williams so far in Saudi Arabia. In China, the top-ten finish was a result of Ferrari’s double disqualification, but in Jeddah, Sainz converted his strong pace throughout the weekend into an eighth-place finish, offering hope for the upcoming races.
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