Alex Albon secured a result among the top five in the Miami Grand Prix of Formula 1 with an overtaking to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and faced relatively little competition during the second half of the race.
The result defined the progress that Williams has made this season with his FW47. Grove’s team has 17 points ahead of Haas in the fight for the fifth position of the Constructors Championship, has scored five of the six rounds and, according to the superthime, had the fourth faster package in Miami.
In the last seven years, finishing a fifth -place race for merits could have been an unfathomable goal for Williams. Its highest brands since 2018 have generally been washed in wear and wet weather races. And now? Taking a popular phrase about five years ago, this is the “new normality.”
Taking the general rhythm of the season, Williams is still a couple of tenths of Ferrari. This is expected to remain so, since Ferrari seeks to develop his 2025 car to level some of the inconsistencies and start challenging Mercedes and Red Bull more regularly, while Williams has remained firm in his focus on putting all the eggs in the 2026 basket.
But there was something in the Miami circuit that seemed to adapt to navy blue cars, in particular, the fastest speed of the track. This put Williams ahead of Ferrari throughout the weekend, since the Scuderia could not take advantage of its highest performance in the lower speed curves.
Beyond that, the FW47 was much more consistent in the career rhythm domain, according to our graphic below.
Ferrari Vs Williams GP Race Distribution of Miami
Foto: Motorsport Network
At the upper end of the times by return, Albon was more or less at the same time with Leclerc, but the Monegasco had a much greater variation through its times by return in general – hence the box that contains its 25% -75% percentile range is larger.
In addition, its average 50% time (indicated by the line drawn in the box) is much slower than that of Albon, since the Anglo-Tailandés pilot had a greater concentration of fast laps.
You can also see the same in Sainz’s graph; Although his best times of 25% were slower than those of Hamilton, the difference (again) is much lower, which guarantees that his average return was also considerably better than the British efforts.
In summary, the distributions of the round of the Williams duo suggest that the best turns were much more repeatable. Ferrari, meanwhile, fought for general regularity throughout the Grand Prix.
Sainz torn – “We could take a very big step” with development – but accept the priority of 2026
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Foto de: James Sutton / Motorsport Images
After qualifying sixth, Carlos Sainz wanted to make it clear that Miami had adapted very well to Williams from the beginning of the weekend. Even with limited opportunities in the training sessions, the Spanish considered that the car “fell into the window” and helped the team to be comfortably in the middle of the squad of the Q3.
This level of performance, he admitted, had left him divided: Sainz accepts the plans of the James Vowles team head of continuing to build the team and focus on making 2026 a competitive year, but could not help wondering how much Williams could upload in the order if he could focus on “two or three areas” before investing fully in the car of next year.
“When I see those three tenths of advantage [en clasificación]my willingness to develop this car is there. Be perfectly where this car is, and at the time you put it in the wind tunnel and try to focus on the two or three areas that I have been telling the team in which there is clearly more potential … if the team manages to give me that, I think we could take a very large step.
“But the plan is the plan, we are not going to do that, we are going to focus on next year and put all the eggs in that basket. But, obviously, the potential I see in – especially in my sixth race, being three tenths of the pole is encouraging.
“But we have to keep calm. I have wondered how much we can do, how much cfd, how much wind tunnel? But there are no [espacio].
“I like JV because he has a plan and undertakes 100% with Him. He trusts his feelings, in his plan, in his project, and I support him.”
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Foto: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
“That’s why I committed to James as an individual, but also as a team with Williams, because I see a very clear project and ambition, very clear objectives, and we have to commit to them and stick to them.
“He also promised that this year’s car would be an improvement from last year. Until now, he has been a man of word, and I’m glad he goes in the right direction.”
One can only agree with Sainz; Williams has clearly taken a step forward with respect to the midfield of the midfield, and theoretically could aspire to a podium or two if I could find a few tenths extra in the usual development cycle of the season.
But neither is that what Sainz joined the team: he saw the long -term project like what he was and decided to enlist. And if Williams ended up in a developing alley, he has won resources of 2026 at all.
After years of difficulties even to score, Williams wants long -term guarantees. Focusing in 2026 still makes sense; If 2025 were a bad year, the decision would be easier. Good results can sometimes be a distraction.
Watch: McLaren sweeps Miami! Piastri wins again and Norris completes the double | GP Miami Summary 2025
