Spanish GP: All went wrong for Atlassian Williams Racing


By Williams Racing
June 2 2025

The 2025 Spanish GP would see neither Atlassian Williams Racing driver feature in the results with Carlos Sainz finishing 14th and Alex Albon retiring from the race. Both drivers would suffer very early damage to their cars requiring both to make very early pit stops to replace their front wings. From this point the race just seemed to get worse with Alex having to retire as a result of further damage and Carlos was in the difficult position of having to cope with an overheating issue plus the damage. It was very much a race that went all wrong right from the start. The hopes for the race were quite limited due to the issues that the team had been trying to find solutions for right from the first practice with the FW47 but the damage to both cars effectively ended any hopes. Next stop Canada where the team is hopeful of turning things around.

 
 Atlassian Williams Racing Spanish GP Race Review
 
Albon
 
Albon

Alex Albon:
"We lost out quite heavily at the beginning and were on the back foot into Turn 1. The cars ahead were avoiding each other, and I was the one to get hit, so we were forced onto a three-stop strategy to replace my front wing. I tried my best to stay out of the way in each incident, but we ended up with damage both times.

We need to look at this track and understand why it’s such a challenge for us. I want us to be a top team, and it’s important to put the car to the test at tracks like this so we can learn valuable lessons and optimise our car for the future. Overall, I feel like I’m in a good rhythm with the car and I’m looking forward to Canada."

 
Sainz

Carlos Sainz:
"It was a tough race for me and the team. We picked up front wing damage on the first lap, which made us lose a lot of race time, and struggled with engine overheating when following cars. In clean air the pace looked better but overall, the weekend hasn’t been very positive, as expected. I want to thank all the fans for their incredible support the entire week and hopefully we’ll be back to better form in Canada."

 
 

James Vowles, Team Principal:
"Our race was over from the first lap following incidents breaking both front wings. We executed the stops as quickly as possible. From that point onwards, we weren’t quick enough. We need to review what damage there was elsewhere on the car as they were fairly large knocks at the beginning of the race.

Carlos did fantastically, keeping his nose in the race as much as possible. He could see the points in front of him, but ultimately, we lost out too much at the beginning. We knew this would be a difficult race for us coming into it, and unfortunately as much as we’ve improved elsewhere, we haven’t improved sufficiently here. We need to go back and make sure we completely understand everything before we go into 2026.

In regard to Alex, he was in a very similar position to Carlos. He did his best, but ultimately from both the first lap incident and the following front wing damage, the race was over."

 
Sainz
 
Sainz
 
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain   Lap Length: 4.657km
Pos Driver Team Times Grid
 
14 C Sainz Williams Racing +29.309 (1:19.317) 17
DNF A Albon Williams Racing DNF 11
 
Sainz
 

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