Gary Anderson surprised by what he’s noticed about Carlos Sainz’s first Williams F1 car

Williams became the second team to unveil their 2025 Formula 1 car at a Silverstone shakedown on Friday. McLaren held a similar event at the British Grand Prix venue 24 hours earlier.

Formula 1’s launch season is very different this year due to the F175 event in London on Tuesday. Teams have agreed to withhold their liveries until they appear at the O2 Arena.

McLaren and Williams therefore had to use one-off designs for their filming days. Haas are hitting the track on Sunday but they won’t reveal any footage until next week.

Ferrari have also decided to host an independent launch on Wednesday following the blockbuster signing of Lewis Hamilton. Along with Charles Leclerc, he’ll sample the 2025 car for the first time at the Fiorano test track.

Fresh from signing Adrian Newey, Aston Martin will follow suit on 23 and 24 February, while Mercedes will debut their new car the day before pre-season testing starts in Bahrain. There will be only subtle changes to this year’s machinery.

Though there are some important F1 rule changes for 2025, the technical regulations are largely the same. The major overhaul is coming in 2026.

Gary Anderson expected Williams to make more changes to their car before Carlos Sainz arrival

Williams finished second from bottom in the constructors’ championship last year, scoring just 17 points all season. It was a step back from 2023, where they placed seventh (28 points).

In light of that performance, F1 technical expert Gary Anderson is ‘a little surprised’ there aren’t ‘more differences’ between the FW46 and its successor. Anderson, who worked for Jordan and Jaguar during his time in the sport, gave his thoughts in a column for The Race.

The Northern Irishman suggests that Williams weren’t able to show their ‘end-of-season potential’ in 2024 after a spate of crashes. They were instead in ‘survival mode’, turning to patched-up cars and older specifications.

Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon suffered four heavy accidents in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas. Williams will probably ‘breach’ the cost cap after racking up the highest repair bills of any team.

Jenson Button delighted by how Carlos Sainz took one corner in 2025 Williams test

New signing Carlos Sainz shouldn’t necessarily be concerned by the lack of perceptible changes to the car. Many of the tweaks won’t be visible, and most teams will simply be rolling out evolutions of pre-established concepts.

What’s more, as Anderson suggests, James Vowles may see untapped performance in last year’s package. Williams completely changed their way of working last winter, which put them out of step with their rivals, but they’re working from a much more stable base this time.

• READ MORE: Carlos Sainz will love what James Vowles has just said about Williams’ F1 podium chances in 2025

For instance, they will begin the year at the minimum weight limit, which is exactly where every team wants to be. Last season’s car was carrying extra kilograms, inevitably slowing it down.

Sainz immediately impressed Jenson Button by taking turn one flat out on his opening lap at Silverstone. That suggests he felt comfortable in the car straightaway, though naturally the Australian Grand Prix weekend will be the best barometer.