May 2, 2025; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Williams driver Carlos Sainz (55) during F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race Qualifying at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

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Formula 1 Mid Season Guide for Williams F1 by The Playoffs!

A step by step guide for McLaren F1's 2025 F1 season after the British Grand Prix

May 2, 2025; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Williams driver Carlos Sainz (55) during F1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race Qualifying at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The 2025 Formula 1 season bought Williams F1 a lot of surprising success. First, they were able to grab Carlos Sainz from the driver market. They currently have a balanced driver pairing which is giving them the strength to overpower in the midfield. Williams F1 are using the consistency from Alex Albon and the calculative yet strategic mindset of Carlos Sainz Jr. to bring forth good results from the midfield. Arguably, the team has found their best start to an F1 season in a whole decade.

Setting up in Spa 💪

Ready to get the Sprint weekend started ⏩ pic.twitter.com/AMyj4CbcuG
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 24, 2025

Season Recap- Williams F1

Williams F1 were showing blistering pace during the practice and testing sessions. The team was absolutely flying with Carlos Sainz behind the wheel. For once, it felt like team had found a lot of pace suddenly was going to be the most dominating car of the midfield. Unfortunately their pace was short lived. In first race itself, Sainz had issues with his car ended up without points. Meanwhile, Alex Albon drove in for a P5 finish.

For the first half of the season, both sides of the Williams garage are racing two different races. Alex Albon is racking up points for the team without any hassle. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz is unable to bring the car home for a good finish. The Spaniard shows promising pace every weekend, however, he is unable to carry it forward in the qualifying sessions or races. He has been valuable to the team in strategy and making the best out of the situation.

The Williams F1 team had an explosive start to the 2025 Formula 1 season. They were incredibly fast among the midfield cars. Although, their performance had a significant drop in the past weekends. They also had a “unsportsmanlike” race in Monaco, wherein they held back the teams behind to pit their drivers leading to a lot of criticism.

Williams F1 2025 Highlights

Championship Standing	5
Points	59
Top-5s	3
Top-10s	14

Williams F1 Driver H2H- Alex Albon vs Carlos Sainz

	Alex Albon – THA	Carlos Sainz – ESP
Standings	8	1
Points	46	13
Top-5s	3	0
Top-10s	8	6

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are equally matched in talent when it comes to the 2025 Formula 1 season. Both Albon and Sainz have won podiums in the previous seasons. Alex Albon has outpaced Carlos Sainz in majority of the weekends. The Spaniard is still coming to terms with his car in 2025. His muscle memory driving the Scuderia Ferrari has been holding him back from mastering the Williams.

"We've got a high target and ambition"

Hear from Alex as he summarises our Sunday at Silverstone 🗣️
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 6, 2025

Alex Albon has been driving the Williams for 5 years as of 2025. His experience with the team’s car and its setup is coming in handy in the 2025 season. The Thai-British driver has been the greatest asset to the team leading the charge for one of their best seasons in the past decade. Albon’s form dropped in the past couple of races. However, he has already help the team gain a jumpstart in the championship compared to the best rivals.

Williams F1 are having a balanced season with Alex Albon are Carlos Sainz. There are some underlying issues with the car which have been proving difficult for the team, but both Sainz and Albon have been providing good input to the team.

Comparison vs 2024- How Does the Team Fare Against Their Results from Last Season?

Here’s a comparison of Williams and their driver’s results compared to the previous season-

(2024 – 2025)	Williams Mercedes F1	Alex Albon – THA	Carlos Sainz – ESP
Standings	9 – 5	17 – 8	4 – 15
Points	4 – 59	4 – 46	146 – 13
Top-5s	0 – 3	0 – 3	9 – 0
Top-10s	2 – 14	2 – 8	10 – 6

Carlos Sainz was riding on a high note coming from Ferrari last year. The Spaniard may need to wait a bit longer before he ends up joining the podium places on a Williams. The team has made a huge leap in performance compared to meagre results from last season. They could not even cross the double digits at this point last year.

Key Predictions and Challenges for the Second Half of 2025 Season

William F1’s biggest challenge is the dwindling speed compared to the rivals. The team is struggling against the rivals in the midfield. They also need to figure out the problems with Carlos Sainz’s car and give him a much more reliable machine. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have been unable to start the race on a strong note coming from qualifying sessions. Both drivers are being regularly beat by other drivers in Q2.

Raring to go and ready to leave it all out there in Spa this weekend 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/TUVxQoSyoP
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 24, 2025

Carlos Sainz needs to get back to speed with the Williams. He was among the best drivers last season. At Williams, his car is facing issues almost every other weekend. To make matters worse, his qualifying performance is far worse than Alex Albon. The team can make a sudden podium finish in the upcoming races. They need to bring forth better upgrades to get a chance to compete in front during the qualifying sessions.

Williams also need to focus on Carlos Sainz to get him a car of his calibre. The team need both drivers competing at the same level to maximise the number of points earned this season.

Alex Albon

Carlos Sainz Jr.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Williams Formula 1

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.