Is Williams F1 right when stopping the 2025 car development?

Alex Albon said a result within the top 5 in the Miami Grand Prix of Formula 1 With an overtaking to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and found relatively little opposition in the second half of the race.

This reflects quite well 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 place of the Constructors Championship, has scored five of the six played rounds and, according to the combined times (“Supermoes”), it was the fourth fastest car in Miami.

during the last seven years, finishing a race in fifth position for its own merits would have been an unthinkable objective for Williams. Their best results since 2018 used to arrive in chaotic races or with rain. And now? For using a phrase that was fashionable a few years ago, this is the “new normality.”

If we take the general rhythm of the season, Williams There is still a couple of tenths behind Ferrari. This difference is expected to be maintained, since Ferrari He plans to develop his 2025 car to correct some inconsistencies and start challenging Mercedes and Red Bull Racing more regularly. Williamson the other hand, it remains firm in its strategy of focusing completely on 2026.

However, there was something in the layout of Miami which seemed to adapt very well to navy blue cars, especially in the fastest areas of the circuit. This allowed Williams be ahead of Ferrari Throughout the weekend, since the Scuderia failed to take advantage of its advantage in slow curves.

In addition to that, the FW47 It showed a much greater consistency in the race rhythm, as shown by the graph that accompanies the news.

At the upper end of times by return, Albon was practically along with Leclercbut Monegasco had a much greater variation in its records, so the picture that contains its rank of the 25% -75% percentile is broader.

In addition, its average time (50%percentile, marked with a line inside the box) was remarkably slower than that of Albonsince the Anglotailandés pilot had a greater concentration of fast laps.

The same can be seen in the graph of Sainz: Although his best 25% turns was slower than Hamilton’s, his dispersion was much lower, which made his average return also much better than those of the British.

In summary, the distribution of turns in the race of the pilots of Williams It suggests that good records were much more repeatable. FerrariInstead, he suffered to maintain consistency throughout the Grand Prix.

Sainz, divided: “We could take a big step”, but the priority is 2026

Carlos Sainz, Williams

After classifying sixth, Carlos Sainz wanted to make it clear that the layout of Miami had favored a lot to Williams From the beginning of the weekend. Even with few opportunities to roll in free, the Spanish considered that the car “fell into the right window”, which allowed the team to be comfortably placed in the middle zone of the Q3.

This level of performance, he admitted, left him divided: Sainz fully accept the plans of the team leader, James Vowles, to continue building a long -term project with an eye on 2026, but cannot avoid wondering how much could climb Williams On the grill if you focus on “two or three key” key before turning completely in next year’s car.

“when I see that we are three tenths of pole [en clasificación]I really want to develop this car. I know perfectly where we are, and at the time you put it in the wind tunnel and start working in those two or three areas that I have already pointed out to the team, where there is clearly more potential … if the team manages to give me that, I think we could take a big 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. Even so, the potential I see – especially being only in my sixth career with the team and already three tenths of the Pole – is encouraging. “

“We have to keep calm. I have asked what we can do, how much CFD, how much wind tunnel … but there is no room.”

“I like JV because he has a plan and undertakes 100% with him. Trust your instinct, in your plan, in your project, and I support it. “

Carlos Sainz, Williams

“That’s why I committed to James on a personal level, but also with Williams As a team: because I see a project with ambition, with very clear objectives, and we have to be consistent with them. “

“He also promised that this year’s car would be an improvement with respect to last year. So far he has fulfilled his word, and I’m glad we are going in the right direction.”

It cannot be avoided with Sainz: Williams He has clearly taken a step forward regarding the middle group of the grill, and theoretically he could aspire to a podium if he would find a few tenths with the usual development during the season.

But, at the same time, that was not the reason why Sainz He joined the team: he opted for the project in the long term and decided to enlist. And if Williams It would end in a dead end in development, it would have wrapped resources by 2026 for nothing.

After years of suffering even to add points, Williams You want long -term guarantees. Focusing in 2026 still makes sense: if 2025 were a bad year, the decision would be clear. But good results can sometimes be a distraction.