END OF YEAR REPORT: Williams’ best and worst moments from 2025 and driver head-to-heads

The 2025 season was a positive one for Williams, with the Grove-based outfit scoring two podiums courtesy of Carlos Sainz in the second half which helped them to solidify fifth place in the Teams’ Championship. Can they build on that further in 2026? Here is Williams’ end of year report…

Best finish

Carlos Sainz – 3rd in Azerbaijan, Qatar

While Williams enjoyed a solid start to 2025 with a haul of points finishes, many of these belonged to Alex Albon, with Sainz suffering more bad luck as he started to adapt to his new team following his switch from Ferrari.

Their fortunes were somewhat reversed, however, in the latter half of the campaign, and it was Sainz who clinched the squad’s first podium since 2021 when he converted an impressive P2 grid slot in Azerbaijan to third place at the flag.

Another rostrum followed for the Spaniard at the penultimate Grand Prix of the season in Qatar, having again crossed the line in P3 thanks to a combination of a solid strategy, good race pace and some robust defending from Sainz.

Qualifying head-to-head

Albon 9-14 Sainz

As of the halfway point of the season, Albon was just leading Sainz when it came to the Qualifying head-to-head, the incumbent Thai driver outqualifying his new team mate by eight to six prior to F1’s summer break.

But as Sainz got into his stride moving into the second half, the four-time race winner moved ahead in the battle via some eye-catching performances, including that aforementioned P2 in Baku as well as a P3 in Las Vegas.

Race head-to-head

Albon 14-9 Sainz

Both drivers experienced their fair share of misfortune in 2025; each recorded four DNFs, which included a consecutive run of three retirements in the middle of the season for Albon. Amongst these was a particularly tough weekend in Austria, in which neither car made the finish as Sainz was unable to start due to a car issue.

While Sainz finished in the points more frequently towards the end of the championship, it was not enough for him to outscore Albon in the race day statistics. Albon also just fended off Sainz for P8 in the Drivers’ Championship, taking nine points more than the latter.

Best moment

Sainz’s maiden podium as a Williams driver at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was undoubtedly a special moment, made all the sweeter by the struggles that he and the team had faced at times during 2025.

Prior to arriving at the Baku City Circuit, Sainz had failed to score a point on Sunday across the previous six rounds. The 31-year-old more than made up for that at Round 17, setting the second-fastest time during Qualifying before sealing P3 in the race.

A delighted Sainz struggled to sum up his emotions after a tricky start to his first campaign with Williams, commenting on the result: “Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am or how good this feels. It tastes even better than the first-ever podium that I did. We’ve been fighting hard all year and, finally today, we just proved that when we have the speed.”

Another highlight came when Sainz collected a second rostrum in Qatar, a finish that proved especially significant in confirming fifth place in the Teams’ Championship for Williams, their strongest position since 2017.

Worst moment

There were a few difficult moments for the team through 2025, including a double disqualification from Qualifying in Singapore due to technical breaches on both cars, while Sainz and Albon each endured frustrating runs outside of the points at various stages of the season.

More recently, though, a low point came during a strangely absent performance from Williams at the Abu Dhabi finale. Only one week on from the high of Qatar, the team did not look in contention for points at the Yas Marina Circuit and ultimately finished in 13th and 16th places.

Despite ending what had been a promising year on a low note, Sainz suggested that the weekend should act as a reminder that the squad cannot rest on their laurels.

“I hope it serves as a good wake-up call to the team, that after a podium you come back in Abu Dhabi thinking you are going to be strong and we were quite weak this weekend,” he explained. “I’m actually happy this happened, so we go into the winter without falling asleep.”

Goals for 2026

Earlier in the season, Team Principal James Vowles stated that holding onto P5 in the Teams’ Championship would “mean the world” to Williams – and when the result was confirmed with one round to spare in Qatar, the Briton acknowledged that it “surpasses our expectations”.

“I hope it shows the world the direction we are on and the belief we have in where we are going as a result of things,” Vowles added, with the outcome marking just one step in Williams’ ambition to return to the front of the grid.

The Grove-based outfit were amongst those to switch their focus to 2026 at an early stage in the season, a decision that they will be hoping pays off as they look to build further on what has been a very positive campaign. However, as Sainz warned in Abu Dhabi, the squad need to ensure that they do not become complacent over the winter.

After some years of transition – following the arrival of Vowles in 2023 and Sainz this year – Williams have stability going forwards, with both drivers onboard for the long-term. The energy within the team certainly seems optimistic, with Vowles recently saying: “It's the start of our journey and I can't wait for what's next.”