For a team that has spent most of the season fighting to cement their place in the midfield, Williams’ double top-seven start at the F1 Miami GP feels like a small victory. Carlos Sainz will line up P6 on Sunday, with Alex Albon right behind, allowing the Grove outfit to run split strategies, and possibly a double-points finish.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Albon said after qualifying. “The good thing is we’ve got both cars next to each other, so we can play with strategies.
“It’s going to be a one-stop race most likely, we never know with the weather but it’s going to be interesting.
The race day forecast remains unpredictable, but even without rain, Williams might have the pace and brains to make it count. Their previous display of teamwork in Jeddah, where Sainz gave Albon DRS to help him fend off a late charge from Isack Hadjar, showed just how sharp this new pairing already is.
Sainz, coming off a disastrous Sprint that ended with a brush off the barriers and an early retirement, managed to reset in time for qualifying. “We pressed the reset button really well for this quali,” he said. “There’s still the whole weekend ahead of us and we managed to put together, honestly my best lap in a Williams in quali, only three-tenths off pole,”
The lap wasn’t about damage control, it was a statement. “It must have been a good lap because to be only three-tenths away from pole has to be a good job,” he added. “Very happy, very proud. Things are going well, and I am in a very good position to start tomorrow.”
Albon and Sainz set expectations for Williams’ F1 Miami GP
Albon briefly held P4 in Saturday’s Sprint but lost the position after stewards penalised him for breaching Safety Car delta times. He, too, focused firmly on what comes next.
“I think realistically it’s going to be very hard to keep the Ferraris behind us so let’s see how it goes but I’m up for the challenge.”
Sainz, however, is well prepared for Sunday, regardless of what unfolds.
“Whatever comes I think I will be on pace. It’s just a matter of getting all the operational and all the driving together like we did in quali. We had a clean quali and you see the performance and the lap time is there. We just need to nail those two things.”
Williams has shown flashes so far in 2025. The F1 Miami GP might be the first time it all comes together.
