Smooth Operation: Sainz puts Williams on the Podium for the first time since 2021: Will Alex Albon’s time come?
Updated: May 2
In a turn of events, Williams Racing find themselves competing for podiums once again this year with the formidable duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. With Sainz putting Williams Racing on the podium this weekend in his first year with the team, what does this mean for Albon, a long time driver for the team for the last four years?
In a manic qualifying, the two Williams drivers produced two very different results this weekend. On the one hand, Albon unfortunately clipped the wall at the Apex of turn one, ending his race early after producing very consistent results for the team and showing pace in his earlier laps of the course. On the other end of the spectrum, Sainz took the Williams all the way into Q3, highlighting the sheer capabilities the Williams Racing car can create, even sitting on pole for a while before Verstappen showed his Championship title skills.
On race day, despite losing a place to a timely and neatly done undercut by George Russel and the Mercedes AMG-Petronas Team, Sainz finished on the podium with a clean race. Where Sainz sat pretty at the front of the grid, Albon fought his way back from the back of the grid to a finish just outside the points, he clearly shows what he is capable of, the masses of overtakes he completed reinforcing his place in the Williams team, explaining why he has been there so long, and tried to make the team more competitive again.
Williams have earned more points in the 2025 season (101) than between the 2018-2024 seasons combined (84). This is not only due to the changes they made to the car in terms of using the Mercedes Gearbox with the pushrod suspension layout, leaning in their favour and garnering result after result week in week out this year. Albon sits with 70 of those points, after delivering a strong campaign this year, however, his newer teammate gets on the podium before him this year. Despite him being a part of the team for the last 4 years, outcompeting his teammates every year, he just cannot find himself on the podium again: why?
Carlos Sainz joins the Williams team after being replaced by Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari for the 2025 season. His experience within F1 starts back with Max Verstappen in Red Bull, competing with such a promising young talent, to then stand side by side Charles Leclerc, a man of great power and skill in Ferrari. Having won four F1 races in his career, six pole positions and twenty-eight podium finishes, statistically he is superior to his teammate in terms of pure experience.
However, he has not outperformed Albon this season. Albon is used to the Williams car, despite not having won a race before, he is consistently getting points for the team, and he has a real feel for the car. Where Sainz has more overall experience in F1, he is less used to the Williams Racing car than Albon is, hence the staggering difference in performance by the duo.
Does this reflect badly on either drivers? The short answer is no. While many believe that, due to his results, Alex Albon is more deserving of a podium finish than Sainz, his experience drove him to this result this weekend, just the same that Sainz’s performance in the Williams is not a reflection of his lack of ability, but rather, him getting used to the Williams Racing car’s functionality.
Sainz’s podium finish this weekend is deserved, and at the same time Albon’s time will come. When it comes to teammates it is hard not to compare the two, however, in this case, both drivers are more than capable of accelerating this team’s fight back to the top, and both are needed to achieve this. Albon has a lot of potential, and if not this year, but next year he will be competing for podium positions with a stronger Williams Racing team.
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