Williams experienced a Sunday of contrasting fortunes at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Alex Albon celebrating a stellar sixth-place finish while teammate Carlos Sainz endured a frustrating race, crossing the line in 18th.
The Anglo-Thai driver’s impressive performance marked his best result since Imola, while Sainz’s Sunday was marred by a strategic gamble that didn’t pay off and a botched pit stop.
Albon’s result was hard-earned at a Spa-Francorchamps circuit that tested both car and driver amid shifting conditions and relentless pressure from behind.
Starting fifth on the grid following an impressive qualifying session, Albon lost one position to George Russell early on in the damp conditions but held his ground from there, fending off a determined charge from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton for much of the race.
“Very happy, it was not easy to hold off Lewis [Hamilton] and he gave me a lot of pressure for long parts of the race,” the 29-year-old said post-race.
“In some ways, a bit annoyed to have given a position up to George [Russell] but to be honest with you, I think we struggled a bit more in the wet than we do in the dry. Once we put the dry tyres on we were okay.
“I’m happy, I think we finished 12 seconds or so in front of the next midfield car which is a good statement of intent from us and shows our package was working well this weekend, so very happy.”
Consistency Paying Off
Albon’s result continues a run of consistent points-scoring performances for the Williams charger, who has now collected points in nine of the ten races he’s finished this season.
That level of reliability has helped keep the Grove-based outfit solidly in fifth in the Constructors’ Championship and positioned Albon as one of the most dependable midfield performers of 2025.
“It shows I think realistically that if we had finished every race, we would have scored points I think in nearly every race and that’s a really good trait to have,” he reflected.
“It means the DNA of the car is consistent and we are not peaking. I think we are the most consistent midfield team, and we can go to every weekend knowing we can score points as long as we can finish the race.”
Sainz’s Weekend to Forget
While Albon celebrated, it was a difficult afternoon on the other side of the Williams garage. Carlos Sainz, who had impressed in Saturday’s Sprint and showed strong pace earlier in the weekend, found himself starting from the pit lane on Sunday after the team chose to address what he described as a setup “anomaly.”
The Spaniard had qualified poorly for the Grand Prix, prompting Williams to make changes overnight that ultimately didn’t pay off in dry conditions.
Despite starting just ahead of Hamilton from the pit lane, Sainz was unable to make any progress and crossed the line a lowly 18th. A poorly executed pit-stop also weighed on his performance.
“Basically, our weekend was run after a bad quali yesterday,” Sainz said. “We did a bit of analysis after the bad qualifying and we saw that we went in the wrong direction with the set-up, that probably cost me quite a bit.
“We also found an anomaly in the car throughout the weekend, so we said 'okay we are starting 15th, better we start 17th from the pit lane than 15th on the grid'.
"That allows us to change the anomaly, that allows us to change the set-up, that allows us to put a high downforce rear wing for the wet, as it looked like it was going to be wet. It wasn’t wet, and we couldn’t move forward.”
With weather unpredictability and inconsistent race fortunes continuing to plague his season, Sainz acknowledged that he may need to reevaluate his approach moving forward.
“I don’t know if it is a matter of time, or I’m going to start to consider changing something bigger, to see if there is something that starts clicking a bit more,” he admitted.
“We had a super strong Sprint, a super strong Qualifying for the Sprint, super strong lap in Q1 and then suddenly we don’t manage to improve and the weekend started to go south.
“I don’t know, it is something I need to keep looking at, something I need to keep working on. Every weekend is a different thing so it is not like it is a pattern and, yeah, we are going to keep working hard at it and see what we can do in Hungary.”
As the championship heads next to the twisty, technical Hungaroring, Albon will be looking to continue his consistent points haul, while Sainz aims to reset and rebuild after a weekend that began with promise but ended in disappointment.
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