Williams captured plenty of headlines during pre-season testing, with Carlos Sainz setting the fastest lap of anyone in Bahrain. Both the Spaniard and teammate Alex Albon set some very competitive times – albeit on relatively low fuel.
Regardless of fuel loads, posting purple sectors always generates excitement in pre-season. This is especially true for Williams, whose progress will be followed even more closely after the arrival of Carlos Sainz.
According to McLaren’s Andrea Stella, the data from testing suggests Williams could threaten the top four teams.
Why Williams have been identified as a potential threat
In many ways, it is important to exercise caution about the lap times set by James Vowles’ team in Sakhir.
Fundamentally, Williams were running significantly less fuel than the top teams when setting their personal best times.
Of course, this is not to say the FW47 is not a clear step forward on its predecessor.
The Grove-based team began development on 2025 relatively early last season. The crashes suffered at the beginning of 2024 meant that upgrades intended for later in the season were often postponed to make spare parts.
As a result, Williams were pragmatic in developing what they had in the pipeline to prepare for 2025.
Along with other midfield teams, the Grove squad want to climb the field over the coming years.
Having looked at the data from Bahrain, McLaren’s Andrea Stella expects the top four teams to face new challengers:
“Every team will always be looking at the information they have in relation to competitors,” he told the media in pre-season.
“Definitely, we talked about not getting distracted by what we see from competitors…
“But perhaps this year, we might have to adapt our language again… and then maybe the top five [teams] or the top six.”
26.02.2025. Formula 1 Testing, Sakhir, Bahrain, Day One.
Can Williams give the top teams a headache in qualifying?
When pressed on which team could upset the established order, the McLaren team principal pointed to Williams.
It is no secret that Williams team principal James Vowles is now focused on 2026 development. However, this does not mean they haven’t made important gains over the winter break.
Having already set aside their resource allocation for 2025 and 2026, the crashes Williams suffered last year restricted their ability to bring upgrades.
Most of their budget cap had to be allocated on repairs and replacements.
Because of this, the British squad finished the 2024 campaign without many of the components they had initially planned.
This means Williams should take a clear step forward with the FW47 – since they have a significant upgrade backlog.
Threatening the top four on race day still seems a long shot for Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
However, especially in qualifying, they could be fast enough to punish the front-runners if they fail to optimise their packages.
McLaren’s Andrea Stella elaborated on why James Vowles’ squad should not be underestimated:
“We see that at low fuel, there are definitely several cars that are in condition to put together very competitive lap times, which I think are competitive in absolute terms…
“It’s interesting that, for instance, Williams were very strong in the second sector.
“Which is not only a sector of braking acceleration, is also a sector with a couple of medium-speed corners.
“So I think this should say that Williams might have improved in that area.”
