New Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jnr was impressed by the team’s live launch of its 2025 car at Silverstone.
Sainz, who has joined the team from Ferrari, was first to drive the new FW47. It left its garage on schedule just over half an hour after the team began a live broadcast from the track.The team suffered a difficult start to last season as changes at its factory meant completion of the previous car ran late and they began the year short on parts. But Sainz, whose first two laps in the car were shown live, reported no problems after his first runs.
“It has been a smooth day,” said Sainz afterwards. “We managed to complete all the run plan without any issues and I got my first proper feeling for the car.
Sainz and team mate Alexander Albon each covered 100 kilometres on the short version of the track which holds the British Grand Prix. Albon said he was “really happy” with his first impression of the FW47 ahead of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit at the end of the month.
“Normally this weather makes the car feel good, and it did today. We won’t know for sure what the car is like until Bahrain, but the car was reliable, and we put on a great show for our partners and fans, so I hope everyone enjoyed that.”
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Chief engineer Dave Robson said the team encountered some teething problems but they were able to begin exploring the car’s limits before completing the maximum 200 kilometres permitted on a promotional day.
“The car ran well and, having completed a few careful laps to check that everything was working correctly, we were able to push the car hard and confirm that there were no major problems,” he said. “Inevitably, we found a few very minor issues, but these will be quickly resolved before we arrive in Bahrain, and they didn’t affect the running today.
“In the cold conditions, and using the Pirelli promotional tyres, it is impossible to assess the performance of the FW47, however, the telemetry and driver feedback suggest that the basic characteristics of the car are very close to expectation and there are no immediate handling concerns.
Pictures: Alexander Albon in the FW47
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Riccard
15th February 2025, 8:24
Getting the car on the road this early is a welcome return to normality for Williams.
I am sure Sainz will keep it on the road more than Sergeant and Colapinto. Hopefully Albon will return to form and match him in the rather than making mistakes under pressure.
It’s one of the most interesting driver lineups: good luck
SteveP
15th February 2025, 8:39
I’m not clear why you left Albon out of that list, after all it was Albon that bent his car so severely that the team ‘had’ to put him in Sergeants car instead.
MichaelN
15th February 2025, 10:49
Indeed, Albon weirdly gets a lot of free passes. He played a significant part in Williams’ parts problems last year.
El Pollo Loco
15th February 2025, 20:54
+1
He even totaled the car at the same corner two years in a row in Australia and as a result they’ve reprofiled AKA watered down) that corner to be less difficult.
I’ll add that, while this can strike any driver, damage cost totals can be deceptive too. It often hinges on luck. The same or similar type of crash at one track can result in totally different levels of damage. FC was very unlucky in that respect.
AlanD
15th February 2025, 15:08
I think the point is that he’ll keep it on the road more than the drivers he is replacing. He is not replacing Albon, so the amount that Albon did or didn’t keep it on the road isn’t a factor in what Riccard is saying.
Riccard
15th February 2025, 18:18
Why did I leave Albon out of the first sentence in that paragraph? Because I discussed him in the second sentence.
When Colapinto appeared beside him, he made mistakes under pressure. I’m crossing my fingers that he can cut those out and return to form.
Alan Dove
15th February 2025, 10:09
Such boldness
We used to have documentary makers doing films on McLaren, Jordan, Williams, Ford etc… which genuine insights into the behind the scenes design, testing and dyno process. Often warts and all.
Standards have dropped so much that filming a test day with a car, in an age of high levels of reliability, is bold.
MichaelN
15th February 2025, 10:52
Maybe, but having the initial dive be part of an event is taking a bit of a risk. Even in this day and age, the first day can be a bit rough. Most teams don’t do it in this way.
It’s definitely not something to be super excited about, but Williams can use these small wins right now.
Alan Dove
15th February 2025, 11:30
Haas Lola literally had cameras in their dyno room during the 1986 season while they were having a whole host of issues. That’s bold. We even get treated to a strip down of a blown engine. People’s acceptance of what constitutes ‘bold’ is so low nowadays.
SteveP
15th February 2025, 12:33
Young adults of the 1960s – 2010s spent their time inventing the computer systems that most people use.
Young adults of the 2020s spend their time “inventing” a new trend on TikTok, without having a clue how the systems that deliver the text and images actually work – just magic moon-beams delivery.
Pick another field (non-IT) and you can likely show the same pattern.
dot_com (@dot_com)
15th February 2025, 16:07
I agree. This could have gone catastrophically wrong, in front of their newly acquired title sponsors and the world’s media. The fact that they chose to make a live event out of this first day running shows a lot of confidence. It’s not like the ‘days of yore’ when we would look into the dyno testing etc. But when so much these days happens behind closed doors and with minimal risk of error or bad PR, I really like that Williams chose this approach. I’m just glad for them that the car didn’t break down at the first corner!
Ideals (@ideals)
15th February 2025, 12:06
I mean this is a team that for almost a decade couldn’t get their cars properly finished for testing and sometimes even this season. A team that last year was so far behind schedule they had to withdraw a car from a race due to a lack of spare parts.
So yeah, the bold statement here is more that they’re showing they’re ready well ahead of testing, which is a stark contrast to their recent past.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
15th February 2025, 12:47
Yeh those internet clips in the 1970s were truly bold.
We got almost nothing until the internet era apart from magazines a month out of date and the odd season review on telly. No idea where all these documentaries you talk of were shown but it wasnt in the UK on terrestrial
Alan Dove
15th February 2025, 13:48
They were shown in the UK on terrestrial
1981 or 1982 BBC Horizon – The Grid (Williams F1 documentary) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS4pejg43Ug
1986 – Channel 4 Equinox – Turbo The Cosworth V6 Turbo for the 1986 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frU7cVt_qKc
1993 – BBC – A Season with McLaren
1993 – Williams The Champions – Behind the scenes at Williams preparing for 1993
etc…
They have a level of access we could only dream of seeing today.
I just find it funny that filming in an era of extreme reliability is bold when back in the day we could see into dyno testing.
kuvemar
15th February 2025, 14:14
So all of these were broadcast live?
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
15th February 2025, 14:49
I remember watching that McLaren series and being frustrated by how little it showed us. Seemed way too shiny and corporate at the time, not bold.
Alan Dove
15th February 2025, 15:57
Which goes to show how standards have fallen.
SteveR (@stever)
16th February 2025, 1:41
I’d forgotten about that Equinox Cosworth video. Well worth a watch for anyone interested in technical stuff. Thanks!
Joseph
15th February 2025, 15:47
Alan Dove, you are right.
But above all, you must see that the level on the field right now, is very high, and results must come in, there is big enterprises putting their money on the Teams, so money talks, and there is no space for erros. The time of Osella, Rial, Coloni, long long time already gone.
El Pollo Loco
15th February 2025, 21:01
Modern day F1 “journalism” (I’ve never really considered 99% of F1 and other sports media coverage actual journalism) has also gone way downhill. There’s more data available (but not due to external F1 journalism), video available, rapid updates, etc., but once upon a time we used to have specials and docs where journalists got actually access to the development of new F1 engines and other tech. And it wasn’t cut with a bunch of action every 30 seconds or contain fabricated drama for people who can’t pay attention like anything produced today has. There was a really good one made that covered Kevin Duckworth when he was making his first turbo engine as his legendary DFV engine was finally being replaced.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
15th February 2025, 13:15
With so many other teams fielding a Rookie this season, I don’t want to hear any excuses from Williams about either of their drivers.
They should be right up there just behind the top teams in the WCC contest next season with consistent point finishes from both Alex and Carlos, whilst most other teams will have nightmare weekends thanks to noobie errors from their noobies.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
16th February 2025, 1:25
Time is money, most of the time. And the rule makers are the ones who decide which teams have to spend more.
If you see a team going out of business, because it is losing money hand over fist, it could be because the people running the team don’t understand how to quantify things like time and risk correctly, or it could be because the rule makers are making it more expensive for some teams vs others. ;) ;)