Mexican GP: Qualifying another mixed session for Williams


By Williams Racing
October 26 2025

After the final practice session for the 2025 Mexican GP the Atlassian Williams Racing Team would see both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finish well down the times. So going into qualifying there was a degree of uncertainty for the team. At the end of the session we would see Carlos finish 7th and Alex down in 17th. Carlos was able to put in what he described as his best qualifying lap in a Williams to achieve his Q3 result. Unfortunately Carlos has to take a five place grid penalty so he will strat Sunday's race in 12th. For Alex he would be on his radio complaining about his brakes while out of the car he said he suffered from a general lack of grip that saw him out in Q1. So the team will see their cars start from 12th and 17th which will offer opportunities especially for Carlos but it will be more difficult for Alex.

 
 Atlassian Williams Racing Mexican GP Qualifying Review
 
Albon
 
Albon

Alex Albon:
"The conditions were very different between sessions, and I had a lot less grip in qualifying than in FP3. We’ve been chasing the feel of the car all weekend, never feeling totally comfortable or hitting our stride. I felt like the track got away from me in qualifying and we were sliding around a lot today, I never really found the grip that I needed. We fixed some things ahead of qualifying, but were also dealing with a potential issue with the brakes, so there’s a lot to analyse and debrief as a team to see what we can do to improve. It’s usually one-stop racing here in Mexico so we’ll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully we can finish the weekend stronger than we started."

Sainz

Carlos Sainz:
"That was probably my best qualifying lap of the season. I’m enjoying the feeling in the car and today we executed a very solid qualifying. We’ll take the positives and refocus on tomorrow. It’s a shame we have to serve that penalty as it will definitely make our race tougher with the dirty air and the cooling. However, I have confidence in my race pace and we’ll do all we can to fight back into the points. I also want to say thank you to the fans here; their support is truly something special and it’s incredible to drive around this circuit listening to all their cheers!"

 

James Vowles Team Principal:
"What a fantastic lap from Carlos to qualify P7 on the grid and ahead of a McLaren, which is an extraordinary effort. Well done. With Alex, there is great performance in him, which we’ve seen across the session. However, for whatever reason, during our last run in qualifying, we didn’t have the grip in the tyres and couldn’t get them working. I'm confident we'll see Alex back tomorrow fighting in the front and taking advantage of the long opening straight from where we are starting on the grid. Looking ahead to the race, it's the longest run down to turn one of any circuit of the season, so it always creates good opportunities and some fireworks."

 
Sainz
 
Albon
 
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico      Lap Length: 4.304km
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
12 C Sainz Williams Racing 1:17.171 1:16.607 1:16.172
17 A Albon Williams Racing 1:17.490   - -
 
Sainz
 

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