Stella’s warning: Williams could crash the top four party.
The data didn’t lie: Williams, powered by new signing Carlos Sainz, had topped the timesheets on day two with a blistering single-lap pace that turned heads across the paddock.
2 Mar 2025
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

“We see there are definitely several cars that are in condition to put together very competitive lap times, which I think are competitive in absolute terms,” Stella told the media, quoted by Motorsport Week.

For Stella, it was a sign that 2025 might rewrite the pecking order. “So if anything my take so far is that I was thinking before coming here that in the past we used to talk about the top three,” he said. “Then thankfully McLaren has kind of added and now we have the top four.”

“But perhaps this year we might have to adapt our language again, which will be great for Formula 1 and then maybe the top five or the top six. So we will see. Certainly there seem to be a few quick cars out there.” Asked who among the chasing pack stood out, Stella pointed straight at Williams.

‘The data didn’t lie: Williams’;

https://f1i.com/news/531845-stellas-...our-party.html


F1: Williams could become threat for top 4 teams, say McLaren
Mar 5, 2025
Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
Last Word On Sports

McLaren’s Andrea Stella elaborated on why James Vowles’ squad should not be underestimated: “We see that at low fuel, there are definitely several cars that are in condition to put together very competitive lap times, which I think are competitive in absolute terms…”

“It’s interesting that, for instance, Williams were very strong in the second sector. Which is not only a sector of braking acceleration, is also a sector with a couple of medium-speed corners. So I think this should say that Williams might have improved in that area.”

In many ways, it is important to exercise caution about the lap times set by James Vowles’ team in Sakhir. Fundamentally, Williams were running significantly less fuel than the top teams when setting their personal best times. Of course, this is not to say the FW47 is not a clear step forward on its predecessor.

‘Williams could become threat for top 4’;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...s-say-mclaren/


Williams a surprise threat ahead of Australian GP
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has singled out Williams as a potential surprise packet as the F1 circus heads to Melbourne for next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
5 March 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

McLaren emerged as the team to beat during the three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain late last month. That reaffirmed the belief the Papaya squad is the favourite for the championship this year. However, team principal Stella is wary of the closing challenge posed by the field. “I’ve seen that, in terms of one lap pace, in addition to the top four… certainly Williams very competitive,” he said. “I’m sure everyone will have seen the same data that I look at.”

“Already last year, going through qualifying sessions, it was quite tight,” Stella admitted. “Those sessions in which you enter [Q1] and you think we’re going to go through with one set of tyres, just the first run will be enough; often we needed to go out again and it was still quite close from a lap times point of view. What I’ve taken from these two days is that, if anything, there is going to be even more of this as we start this 2025 season.”

‘Williams a surprise threat’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-m...ents-reaction/


Will Williams end painful three-year wait?
Williams have featured on the F1 podium 313 times in its history in the pinnacle of motorsport, although it has not added to that list since 2021.
4 Mar 2025
Nick Golding
RacingNews365

Williams has not claimed a podium in Formula 1 in over three years, although the team enters the new season in a fascinating position. The Grove-based outfit's most recent podium came in the unusual 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, with George Russell finishing second.

At a soaked Spa-Francorchamps, Russell qualified in second. Following a significant delay due to extreme weather, the first two laps were completed behind the safety car. A red flag was flown on the third lap, with no restart possible. It holds the record for the shortest race in F1 history. Since then, Williams has not been in a position to compete for a podium.

‘Painful three-year wait’;

https://racingnews365.com/will-willi...hree-year-wait


Williams delighted with the reliability of their FW47
4 Mar 2025
Balazs Szabo
F1 Technical

Williams' chief engineer Dave Robson highlighted the reliability of the FW47 as its main strength, with only minor technical issues having hindered the team's on-track preparation for the upcoming season. "Alex was back in the car for the final day of winter testing. Conditions were more challenging today with the strong gusts making testing more difficult.”

"However, we were still able to complete some useful work across a range of fuel loads. In preparation for the season ahead, we scanned a range of car configurations and tyre compounds. Once again, the FW47 was mostly reliable with only a few minor issues affecting the programme. This puts us in a good place for the opening races of the season."

‘FW47 was mostly reliable’;

https://www.f1technical.net/news/26391


Joy for Carlos Sainz? Williams gains uncovered in F1 testing data analysis
3 Mar 2025
Pablo Hidalgo
PlanetF1.com

Carlos Sainz and Williams to start F1 2025 as best of the rest? In the short pre-season in Bahrain the team led by James Vowles seems to have made a clear step forward with the new Williams FW47. Carlos Sainz was the fastest driver during pre-season testing with a lap time of 1:29.438. Of course, no top team went in search of performance and if they had, they would have beaten this lap time.

Still, the telemetry data shows that the FW47 is a car with good aerodynamic efficiency on the straights, but still struggles to find grip on slow-speed corners as we can see in the following graph compared to Lewis Hamilton’s brand new Ferrari SF-25. The FW47 seems to have a certain ease in making the softer compounds work in the optimal operating window. However, it struggles more with the harder tyres in the long runs.

While there are many doubts about the relative differences between McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, everything seems a little clearer in the middle of the grid. Williams seems to have an extra point of potential ahead of Alpine and Racing Bulls while Aston Martin, Sauber and Haas seem to be a step behind these three teams.

‘FW47 is a car with good aerodynamic efficiency’;

https://www.planetf1.com/features/ca...ata-f1-testing


What Williams can learn from its last great F1 leap forward
Mar 5, 2025
Edd Straw
The Race

Williams's leap forward in 2014 was no more than a dead cat bounce, with little chance of it leading to a sustained return to frontrunning form. That's the big difference in what it hopes to achieve in 2026 as, with the financial conditions prevalent in F1 now very different, there should be no reason why it can't hold onto any big gains made.

The one problem is that 2026 probably comes too early to expect Williams to repeat its 2014 trick and be able to jump forward to the extent that it's the second-fastest car. Williams might look well placed to make a leap from the back to the front of Formula 1's midfield in 2025, but team principal James Vowles has long been clear that the team's resources are focussed on the opportunity presented by the new regulations to make an even greater leap forward in 2026.

‘Williams's leap forward’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/w...-leap-forward/