Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz share their initial thoughts on Williams’ FW47. Both drivers reacted positively following their first taste of the team’s 2025 challenger following day 1 of Pre-Season testing in Bahrain.
Albon shares his feelings
Speaking following the morning session, Albon noted the positives of the FW47, while noting there is room for improvement. The Thai-British driver, heading into his fourth year with the Grove based team, managed 63 laps. His fastest lap time of 1:31.573 was good enough for P9 at the end of the first day of testing.
Overall, Albon was happy to get back on track following the winter break. He will be back in the car on Friday, as teammate Sainz will handle driving duties for both Thursday sessions.
“It was an okay day today,” Albon said after his session. “We still have a few things to work on, but our base car feels pretty sensible. This is what Testing’s about, trying to understand the systems and whether there are things we need to address.
“We’ve made a few changes to the car, which is positive. As a team, we’ve had a couple of opportunities to run the car already this year so that’s a good thing – but as drivers, we always wish we had more time. All in all though, it was good to get out there.”
A happy review from Carlos Sainz
Teammate Carlos Sainz, in his first season with the team, took to the track in the impeded afternoon session. After a power cut resulted in all cars returning to the pits, the Spaniard eventually racked up 68 laps. An additional hour added to the session due to the interference allowed Sainz to complete his day’s run plan.
Sainz had a positive view of the FW47, having set a fastest time of 1:30.955, good enough for P5 overall. Speaking after his session, the Spaniard echoed his teammate’s sentiment, noting that while day 1 was positive, the goal is now to improve on the balance of the car.
“Overall, it was a positive first day for the team,” Sainz said. “Especially given some of the track stoppages we had with the blackout. We managed to complete the run plan, and we got in a lot of laps which is always the main target of the first day.
“First impressions are positive but obviously between now and the next couple of days, we’ll try to improve the balance of the car in both short and long runs.”
