Carlos Sainz has started to find his footing since joining Williams ahead of the 2025 F1 season to set arguably one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid with Alex Albon.
The Grove crew capitalised on Ferrari deciding against offering Sainz a new contract to sign Lewis Hamilton after Williams team principal James Vowles had lost trust in Logan Sargeant. Sainz signed an initial two-year contract at Williams last July that can be extended to 2028.
Williams also gave Albon a new contract last May that tied the 29-year-old down through at least 2027 after emerging as their team leader next to Nicholas Latifi and then Sargeant. The London-born Thai has largely led the way at Williams since Sainz arrived this season, as well.
Jolyon Palmer thinks Carlos Sainz will find Alex Albon leading Williams ‘frustrating’
Albon has scored 40 of Williams’ 51 points so far this season for the Grove team to hold fifth in the F1 constructors’ standings before this week’s Monaco Grand Prix. They are the best-of-the-rest behind the big four teams, and also have a 31-point lead over Haas in sixth place.
But Palmer believes Sainz will be finding it ‘frustrating’ that despite now getting up to speed in the FW47 in qualifying, the 30-year-old has had to watch Albon earn the plaudits with the 29-year-old’s race results. Sainz has out-qualified him 4-3, yet has finished ahead just once.
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Palmer told the BBC: “He is out-qualifying Albon now, but they’re very close. And just in the last couple of races, there’s been frustrations for Sainz because I think, not necessarily that Albon’s been beating him, but he’s not got the results that Albon has.
“Yeah [Williams made strategy errors at Imola] which was unlucky for Sainz because actually he had out-qualified Albon. They were sixth and seventh. Sainz goes one route on the strategy [and] it’s a relative dud. Albon goes the other and it’s glory, and nearly a podium.
“And that’s luck for Sainz, and it’s frustrating that he is a Grand Prix winner and he’s come to the team and wants that buzz of this is why they’ve signed him, rather than us talking about Albon having his best-ever year.”
Carlos Sainz has finished in front of Alex Albon in one of their seven Grands Prix as teammates at Williams
Albon opened an early 3-0 lead over Sainz in their Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head during the Spaniard’s first three rounds with Williams. But the London-born Thai has since been the second-best driver in the team in each Grand Prix qualifying session since at the Bahrain GP.
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| Category | Alex Albon | Carlos Sainz |
| 2025 points | 40 | 11 |
| Grand Prix results | 6 | 1 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 3 | 4 |
| Grand Prix wins | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix poles | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 0 | 0 |
| Best finish | 5th | 8th |
| Retirements | 0 | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 6 | 4 |
| Sprint results | 2 | 0 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 2 | 0 |
| Sprint wins | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint poles | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint podiums | 0 | 0 |
Yet the only time that Sainz has finished a Grand Prix ahead of Albon thus far in the 2025 F1 season came in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when they got P8 and P9. Williams asked Sainz to tow Albon in Saudi Arabia, as well, as the four-time Grand Prix-winner was clearly quicker.
Yet while Sainz has improved his qualifying record with Williams and has out-qualified Albon at the past four Grands Prix in a row, his points have only come from P8, P9 and P10 finishes so far. Albon registered his third P5 finish of 2025 in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
