How Williams was the fourth strength in Miami and beat Ferrari

Miami weekend showed both the limits and strengths of several cars, but above all, the great progress of some teams highlighted. Among them highlighted Williams, which was erected as the fourth force in Florida, ahead of Ferrari. Although the performance in Miami represents the high point of the potential of the FW47, it is A clear sign of Williams’ progress.

From the first rounds of the course, including preseason tests in Sakhir, the British car has given solid signs of competitiveness, continuing a growth path already started with the FW46. The jump between 2024 and 2025 may seem sudden, but in reality it is the result of many years of work, whose fruits are only starting to collect the Grove team.

The latest creation retains some of the distinctive features of the FW46, such as its effectiveness in high speed curves. The quality jump has occurred on several fronts, such as the gradual correction of the balance problems in medium and low speed curves, an area in which Carlos Sainz is still looking for a commitment between his driving style and the characteristics of the car.

Those improvements, together with a construction quality far superior to that of the pastThey have allowed Williams to take a step forward to beat the two Ferrari in classification and in race, as well as to leave a Mercedes behind last Sunday. But, What really did FW47 so competitive in Miami?

On a dry lap, Sainz and Alex Albon finished sixth and seventh respectively, just over three tenths of the Pole. Despite suffering some lack of aerodynamic load in rapid curves, where leading teams continue to make a difference, the FW47 paid off well in the slow sections, demonstrating to be superior to the Ferrari both in the dry lap and in the race rhythm.

Throughout the weekend, Ferrari could not find the right balance in the slow sections, a critical problem already indicated several times by Charles Leclerc and present from the first races of the year. In Miami, the problem was even more evident, being a track that needs several commitments, to the point that in the qualification the SF-25 was slower than the HAAS in those sections.

It is clear that The SF-25 has a hard time squeezing its full potential to a dry lapespecially when it comes to extracting the last tenths from the soft compound. However, The car is approaching in the long batches, when conditions stabilize. However, these difficulties have an important weight, especially when they force out from behind and end with dirty air.

It was precisely this last element that weighed in the race of the two Ferrari, because the rhythm of Leclerc in outdoor was not far from the Red Bull and Mercedes. But finding traffic committed the race more than it might seem, while Williams took advantage of all incidents to turn it into his most effective weapon.

In the first part of the race, beyond the internal controversies, such as the touch in the first round between Albon and Sainz, as well as the team order ignored by the Anglo-Tailandés, two interconnected key themes for Williams immediately emerged.

Start ahead allowed to keep Leclerc under control one of the FW47 during the entire first stint And the Monegasco was unable to become a real threat: while the Ferrari pilot often was able to keep the pace in the rapid curves thanks to its greatest load, in the slow sections it lacked the necessary rhythm to attack in the braking of curve 17 or curve 1.

With Albon ahead, the challenge for Ferrari became at least be able to beat Sainz, not necessarily faster, but supported by an FW47 with good straight speeds and the ability to endure the rhythm in the slow sections, making it almost a pilot difficult to advance.

Help from virtual safety car arrived, that allowed Leclerc to save a few seconds at the stop and leave in front of SainzI had stopped a few times before. A battle was immediately unleashed, with the Monegasco trying to put their tires at a temperature and LOSING THE POSITION WITH SAINZin what was the first act of a fight that finally returned to both FW47 in the lead.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photograph of: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

But later everything decided A very intelligent overtaking of Leclercbut it was a critical moment. In fact, Sainz managed to maintain Ferrari’s rhythm during the second stintbeyond the final slowdown of Hamilton. But, With such a similar rhythm, it was difficult to try an advance, which culminated with an action from Spanish to the limit of the regulation.

It was Albon who took advantage of him and, in the lead, he escaped little by little, even getting ahead of a Andrea Kimi Antonelli who had no rhythm with the hard compound, giving Williams a fifth place: the best result of the season and, above all, a great satisfaction, the culmination of progress (often passing under the radar) of the last two years.

It is the fruit of a long trip

Last season, the FW46 was born overweight, which had significantly slowed down the car’s development, forcing Grove team to chase its rivals all the time. It is not surprising, therefore, that the first major package of aerodynamic innovations did not reach the second half of the campaign, clearly behind its rivals.

The numerous accidents further aggravated the situation, also putting the team in difficulties on the side of the supplies. It is no accident that James Vowles He has repeatedly indicated that in 2024 the team failed to capitalize as much as it should, in the same way that, at the beginning of 2025, the numerous steps forward in the factory highlighted, not only in terms of personnel, but also of facilities.

And it is from these foundations that Williams has finally managed to fit all the Puzzle piecesaligning one of the most competitive cars in the middle zone of the platoon and, above all, being able to fight for points in all races, with the exception of Bahrain, which ended with much more flavor to lost opportunity than in the absence of potential.

Williams has already decided to stop the development of the FW47 to focus on 2026although the pilots believe that there is still margin for tangible improvements in key areas. Beating Ferrari and sitting on the table of the greats will not be the norm, as we have already seen in this start of the World Cup, especially when the rivals begin to bring updates. But Miami was the clearest representation of the progress made by the team in the last three years.