Report: Alex battles to P15 as Carlos' home race ends in retirement at the Madring
A difficult afternoon for Atlassian Williams F1 Team at the Madring’s inaugural Spanish Grand Prix
Published
13 SEP 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
Alex Albon brought the FW48 home in P15 after a tense final stint, while Carlos Sainz's afternoon ended early after carrying damage from the opening lap.
Both cars got off the line well at the inaugural Grand Prix at the Madring, though Carlos made contact with Yuki Tsunoda at turn 1, picking up minor damage to his right-hand endplate and floor. Both drivers made early progress regardless – Alex up to P14 having passed Gabriel Bortoleto and Tsunoda, and Carlos to P18 after getting by Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas – before Bortoleto repassed Alex on the run down to turn 2 the following tour.
The early laps brought their share of niggles, with Alex managing tyre wear on the front-left and Carlos reporting deployment issues through the car. A slow Lewis Hamilton, struggling with brakes, handed both cars a position on lap six.
A Virtual Safety Car on lap 15, brought out by Lance Stroll's brake failure at turn 20, gave the team the chance to bring Alex in for hard tyres, dropping him to P17. The subsequent pit cycle shuffled the order, with Carlos climbing to P15 by running longer having started on hard tyres.
Carlos' race took a turn on lap 20. Five laps after contact with Alonso at Turn 5, he was handed a five-second penalty for the incident, and served at his next stop on lap 24 alongside a fresh front wing, a switch to medium tyres and a change to plan B strategy.
Alex spent the second half of the race in a battle with Ollie Bearman's Haas. Carlos, now on his second set of hard tyres following a stop on lap 32, chased down Bottas for P18, cutting the gap to 3.7 seconds by lap 41 – but blue flags for the lead pack interrupted his charge, and the team called him in to retire the car shortly after lap 44, damage and pace no longer justifying a way back.
Alex held on through a tense final stint, defending against Bearman all the way to lap 47 before the gap finally opened up. The closing laps proved difficult as his tyres cooled and grained, with a lock-up at turn 7 on lap 56 nearly catching him out, but he crossed the line to secure P15, wrapping up a weekend that brought little reward for the team.
James Vowles, Team Principal:
“A very tricky day – we don't have pace here this weekend. Fortunately, we have a small step coming for Baku, but it's still going to be a difficult run to the end of the year. It was fantastic to see the support for Carlos, the entire grandstand was cheering him on all the way through the weekend. That level of support is what we need to keep us going in the tough times. Well done to Alex, he performed well all weekend and that was the best the car could achieve today. Onwards and upwards.”
Alex Albon:
“It was a tricky race and a difficult weekend for us, but I think that was probably the best we could've hoped for today. Beating both Astons and one of the Haas' is what we could realistically maximise, so that was our accomplishment for the day - we're still too far behind to be properly competing with the midfield, and it was pretty tough out there.
"We've got the upgrade coming in Baku, so hopefully that moves us up relative to the midfield and at least gets us into that fight. Realistically it's probably not big enough to shift us forward completely, but our priority unfortunately has shifted to next year. The midfield teams have brought more upgrades than usual this season and the development race is moving so fast, which is something we are focused on improving.”
Carlos Sainz:
“It’s been a tougher weekend in Madrid than what I would have liked. I had a very strong start, picking up positions off the line, but I went deep into turn 1 and had contact with Yuki. From there on, the damage to the floor meant I was lacking a lot of downforce and couldn’t keep it on track for the remainder of the race, forcing us to retire. Regarding the penalty, two cars don’t fit into that corner so being ahead, there was little I could do. It’s a disappointing way to end the first race here, but ultimately, scoring points was always going to be near impossible for us.
“The fans have been absolutely amazing from start to finish and I’ve felt their support all weekend. The track is great and for the first year I think it’s been a great event overall. There needs to be some work done to create better overtaking opportunities.
“Looking ahead to Baku, I’m hopeful that the upgrades will put us more in the mix with the cars ahead and that we can come back stronger.”
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