Fastest overall in pre-season testing, second in the season’s opening practice session and only eight-tenths down in the second, James Vowles says it’s “all coming together” for Williams.

But, he added in a note of caution:”Let’s wait” until after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz on Williams: We can be competitive

Williams have a new signing this season in Carlos Sainz, who has impressed throughout his brief time with the Grove team.

Not only was Sainz the fastest of all in pre-season testing, his Day Two time the quickest of the three days, and he went on to challenge for the top spot in Friday’s opening practice session for the F1 2025 championship.

Hitting the front on the soft tyres as he overhauled his former Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc by 0.06s, Sainz looked to be on course for a first P1 as a Williams driver only for Lando Norris to quash the dream in the final minute of practice. Sainz still finished second.

His lap time in second practice wasn’t quite as impressive. As the track warmed up, Sainz wasn’t able to leap forward on the soft tyres but still finished only eight-tenths down on Leclerc in 11th place.

Practice makes perfect for Williams and rivals in Melbourne

👉 Australian GP: Big crash for Bearman as Norris sets the pace and Carlos shines in FP1

👉 Australian GP: Verstappen trails Racing Bulls as Leclerc pips McLaren in FP2

“Quite strong FP1, but in FP2 we didn’t improve on the soft,” he said, summing up his Friday. “We need to understand why and try to unlock some performance there. If we do, we can be competitive.”

Alex Albon was 12th having set the exact same time as his team-mate.

But amid talk of ‘positive’ feelings and ‘high’ spirits being played out on track, Vowles offered a note of caution.

“It’s a team that’s been through so much pain, and when I joined a few years ago, you could feel it,” he told the media in Melbourne. “I know I’m a man of science, but you really could feel this sort of difficult period that the team had been through. That’s not the case now.

“One item we didn’t talk about in there is our future. It’s great what’s going on now. This is what I would call the most low-hanging fruit that we’re picking up on. There are some great things happening back in Grove and there will be more coming online over the next few years. You can see it in individuals, it’s just building momentum and positive energy.

“What you see today is just a little bit of a fallout from that.

“This is Free Practice. It’s great, nice to see, but it’s Free Practice. Let’s wait until qualifying, the race, and a few races in. That’s also why I’ll bring everyone to our future and the destination we’re going towards.”

But it’s not just a new driver in the mix this season; Williams have also adopted the updated Mercedes suspension into the FW47. It’s just one of the notable changes with the Mercedes-powered car.

Asked if the car was out-performing Williams’ expectations and whether the Mercedes suspension had something to do with that, Vowles replied, “I think we need to reassess where the car has moved to, based on a few things, but it’s about where we expected it to be.

“What Alex was talking about is that from a driving perspective, it gives them a lot more confidence than last year’s car.

“Formula 1 is a strange business, there’s no silver bullet, no one thing that suddenly switches a car on and makes it better.

“So, the Mercedes rear suspension helps a tiny bit, but what we’ve done over the last few years – developing our tools and systems to produce better vehicle dynamics, better aero, and a better way of combining the car together – is all coming together now. That’s what makes the package better.

“It’s really not one area; it’s a combination of a team that’s starting to get stronger by working together.”

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