REPORT: A Sprint Point and Q3 in Qatar

A busy day at the Lusail International Circuit saw Williams do well in both sessions

Published

29 NOV 2025

Est. reading time

4 min

Saturday in Qatar had Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon facing down two competitive Formula 1 sessions for Atlassian Williams Racing and enjoying top-10 times.

A relatively straightforward 19-lap Sprint saw our duo end the race in the top half of the field, following our Sprint qualifying performance, with a point scored from a P8 finish.

Qualifying had Carlos reach Q3, too, with a 1:20.287 having him qualify in P7 for tomorrow's Qatar GP, with Alex's Q2 exit getting him in a P15 time.

The short-form race started the day's action, and it proved a session where Carlos and Alex spent 30 minutes racing against the VCARB of Isack Hadjar.

An off-track moment for Charles Leclerc demoted the Ferrari through the order, but Hadjar's strong start had him slot in between the FW47s.

With overtaking options at a premium, there wasn't any opportunity for movement in the middle of the pack. The order finished with Carlos in P8 and Alex in P10, with just 1.6s separating the two Williams cars.

Qualifying ended up with split fortunes, however. While both drivers navigated Q1 without issue, struggles with the tyres for Alex had him in Q2 with a 1:20.629 lap good enough for P15.

Carlos continued on into Q3, and sat P8 after the early runs, setting a 1:20.707, but triggered an unusual red flag stoppage when the No.55 car picked up plastic when exiting the pit garage.

Some in-garage fixes in the slowdown had Carlos returning to the track with more speed to secure a 1:20.287 lap that will mean a P7 start.

That result sees Atlassian Williams Racing with our best qualifying for the Qatar GP in our history at the circuit as we look to end the season as strong as possible.

"Another good session and happy with P7," Carlos reflected. "We took another step in the right direction and I think I extracted the maximum out of the car today.

"In Q3, the sticker on the floor of the garage stuck to my wheel and caused damage to the bodywork as it unravelled, but despite this I still managed to do a solid lap on the last attempt and secure a good starting position for tomorrow.

"We expect a good battle in the midfield and with two mandatory pit stops we are up for some interesting strategies. I’m confident we can execute a good race and hopefully bring more points for the team. Let’s race!"

Alex continued our reaction by adding: "We made some balance and setup changes after the Sprint and the car felt better in qualifying which is a positive takeaway.

"Ultimately, we just didn’t have the grip today; I was sliding around a bit and struggled to get the tyres in the right window in Q2. We found that we had decent grip with used sets in Q1, so we’ll review the operating windows and our out laps to better understand performance.

"Overtaking was difficult on this track in the Sprint, with it being a quiet race with not much action from my side. As a team this track wasn’t expected to suit us, but I’m optimistic for tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do during the race to make up some positions."

James Vowles concluded our Saturday reaction by sharing: "If anyone had said before the weekend that we'd be fighting in Q3 and qualifying in the top seven, we would have taken it.

"Well done to Carlos, brilliant execution, and well done to the team. It was really tricky getting the tyres into the right window today, but P7 was a brilliant result. It puts Carlos on the clean side of the grid and bodes well for tomorrow's race.

"In the case of Alex, it was just on a knife edge with everyone getting the tyres working, and we just couldn't get into the right window. He had snaps in turn one every time and couldn't show his performance today.

"We'll regroup overnight and review how we can create the best opportunities for him in the race tomorrow. He's still quick, it's just about maximising the opportunities."

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