Qatar GP: Mixed qualifying for Williams Racing


By Williams Racing
November 30 2025

Qualifying for the 2025 Qatar GP would see the Atlassian Williams Racing Team come away with a mixed session in terms of results. Carlos Sainz would finish in a great 7th but for Alex Albon his session would be a more of a struggle finding the grip finishing in 15th. But regardless both drivers were very encouraged by the fact that Qatar and the Lusail circuit was not meant to be a track where they would perform well so to achive the results they have has been very encouraging. 

 
 Atlassian Williams Racing Brazilian GP Sprint - Qualifying
 
Albon
 
Sainz

Carlos Sainz:
"Another good session and happy with P7. We took another step in the right direction and I think I extracted the maximum out of the car today. In Q3, the sticker on the floor of the garage stuck to my wheel and caused damage to the bodywork as it unravelled, but despite this I still managed to do a solid lap on the last attempt and secure a good starting position for tomorrow.

We expect a good battle in the midfield and with two mandatory pit stops we are up for some interesting strategies. I’m confident we can execute a good race and hopefully bring more points for the team. Let’s race!"

Albon

Alex Albon:
"We made some balance and setup changes after the Sprint and the car felt better in qualifying which is a positive takeaway. Ultimately, we just didn’t have the grip today; I was sliding around a bit and struggled to get the tyres in the right window in Q2. We found that we had decent grip with used sets in Q1, so we’ll review the operating windows and our out laps to better understand performance. Overtaking was difficult on this track in the Sprint, with it being a quiet race with not much action from my side. As a team this track wasn’t expected to suit us, but I’m optimistic for tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do during the race to make up some positions."

 

James Vowles Team Principal:
"If anyone had said before the weekend that we'd be fighting in Q3 and qualifying in the top seven, we would have taken it. Well done to Carlos, brilliant execution, and well done to the team. It was really tricky getting the tyres into the right window today, but P7 was a brilliant result. It puts Carlos on the clean side of the grid and bodes well for tomorrow's race. In the case of Alex, it was just on a knife edge with everyone getting the tyres working, and we just couldn't get into the right window. He had snaps in turn one every time and couldn't show his performance today. We'll regroup overnight and review how we can create the best opportunities for him in the race tomorrow. He's still quick, it's just about maximising the opportunities."

 
Sainz
 
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium  Lap Length: 7.004km
Sprint Race
Pos Driver Team Finish Pos Time/Gap Fastest Lap
8 C Sainz Williams Racing 8 +27.333  1:25.463
10 A Albon Williams Racing 10 +28.925  1:25.509
 
Qualifying
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
7 A Albon Williams Racing 1:20.520  1:20.251 1:20.287
15 C Sainz Williams Racing 1:20.629  1:20.629 -
 
Albon
 
Sainz
 

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