James Vowles has noticed a ‘palpable’ change behind the scenes at Williams after Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz’s Imola success

Williams are a different team in 2025 from what they were a few months ago. With Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz on board, the team have had incredible success this year.

The Grove outfit struggled last season with underwhelming machinery and several costly crashes hampering their progression. Albon only managed 12 points in 2024, while Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant for the final nine races and scored five points.

Williams pulled off a huge coup by signing Carlos Sainz from Ferrari, but not much was expected of them in 2025 as Vowles has halted development until 2026 and the new regulations. But the team are already reaping the benefits of their exciting driver line-up.

After seven races, Williams have already tripled their points tally from 2024. Regularly getting their cars into Q3, Albon and Sainz have both scored points at four Grand Prix as the FW47 proves to be the fifth-fastest car on the grid.

It can even challenge Ferrari and Mercedes, as Albon proved in Miami and Imola. The Thai driver finished P5 in both races, battling hard with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the Emilia Romagna GP to finish between them.

Sainz came home to finish P8 and grab his third points finish in a row. Albon regretted being impatient with Leclerc as he believed a podium could have been on the cards, but nevertheless, a 14-point haul is another brilliant success for James Vowles and the team in Grove.

James Vowles says the energy is ‘palpable’ behind the scenes at Williams after Imola

The team principal has constantly talked up the impact his drivers have been having behind the scenes as they look to build towards being a championship contender. Vowles praised Sainz’s ‘incredible’ work ethic at the factory, speaking to technicians unannounced.

Speaking via the Williams official YouTube channel, Vowles exclaimed that the team are on the up and there is a ‘palpable’ energy behind the scenes as the staff rally on after another successful weekend.

“Team morale. It is really critical for me,” he said.

“I will always mention this, but the success that we have as Williams is because we have a thousand individuals that believe in what we’re doing, all pointing the right way and given everything to this journey.

“So morale is just an absolute core essential part of that. And what I can tell you is this: there is a meeting I’ve just come out of where the energy is palpable in the room.

“You can feel it from all the individuals involved. It’s one where we have to make sure we direct it in the right way, we still have a lot to fix and change for our future, but it’s one where this momentum will keep us going for many, many months to come.

“We’re a team that’s on the up and it is a fantastic feeling.”

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Williams have their best start to a Formula 1 season for nearly a decade in 2025

Daniil Kvyat was seriously impressed by Williams’ radio at Imola, noticing the team are very calm in high-pressure situations. It highlights just how far the team have come not just from last year, but the last decade.

Williams have spent several years languishing at the back of the grid. The Grove outfit often struggled to reach Q2, while unreliable and uncompetitive machinery made it almost impossible to score points.

The team were pointless at this stage in 2024. In fact, before this season, Williams had only finished in the points four times in the first seven races in the last seven seasons.

2025 is Williams’ best start to a season since 2016. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished in the points in six of the first seven races, with the latter grabbing a podium in Canada.

Vowles says Williams have the ingredients to score podiums in 2025. Albon’s recent performances suggest one is not far away.