Report: First Q3 appearance of the season secured in Baku qualifying
Atlassian Williams F1 Team make a big step forward in qualifying with the new package – Carlos will start P9, with Alex in P13
Published
25 SEP 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
Atlassian Williams F1 Team returned to the top 10 shootout for the first time this season after a strong qualifying hour saw Carlos Sainz claim P9 with Alex Albon in P13.
Carlos set our early pace with a strong first lap to move up to P7, while Alex had his effort deleted after catching a gust of wind at turn 16 and running wide.
A brief yellow flag followed as Kimi Antonelli found the escape road after hitting the wall, ending his session. Both drivers pitted for fresh softs before their final attempts.
The last Q1 runs saw both cars comfortably progress, Carlos in P8 and Alex in P9 on the timesheet, just 0.165 seconds apart.
Q2 began with the same approach – fresh softs and a double build lap, a tactic that had worked well in Q1. Both drivers went straight to the top of the midfield with their first times, Carlos on a 1:44.849 and Alex on a 1:45.019.
A second set of new tyres was called for ahead of the final pushes, with both cars up in P9 and P11 as the session ticked down. The team found itself waiting on the Alpines to set their final times before knowing where the duo stood.
Carlos’ 1:44.629 ensured he progressed in P9, whilst Alex’s 1:45.001 saw him miss out in P13.
Carlos went out for the Q3 shootout on a set of softs already four laps old, the only driver to do so on used tyres and he was P9 at the end of his first attempt.
Our Spanish racer backed up his opening Q3 lap of 1:45.091 with a strong final effort on fresh softs, crossing the line in P9 with a 1:44.566 – and with time still on the table, having had to lift for a yellow flag caused by Norris.
"Good job, proud of you!” he shared over the radio, adding: “For being competitive, for bringing the package, and for good communications. Very good job from everyone here."
16:30 (BST) update: Carlos Sainz has been given a grid drop of five positions for failure to slow for yellow flags.
Carlos will start Sunday's race from P14, with Alex lining up P12, as the team looks to build on its strongest qualifying performance of the season.
James Vowles, Team Principal
"I'm so pleased. It's been tireless work from the factory. We didn't get everything right earlier in the year and we paid the consequences of that. But instead of burying our head in the sand, we dug deep and we invented a way of doing something, which was a huge undertaking. It's nice to see the reward is a car that's able to scratch into the top ten. We have to acknowledge that it's one track, and there are some weaknesses in the car that will be exposed at other tracks, but it's a great feeling to see that the hard work has paid off. It won't be enough, but it's a step in the right direction and it demonstrates that we are able to develop the car. Looking ahead to tomorrow, if there were no safety cars and no mistakes, it would be a one stop. But it's Baku, so there's a high chance that's not going to happen. Let's see what we get tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz
"Q3 for the first time this year makes me very happy, so thank you to everyone back at the factory for their efforts to bring us the new chassis and these upgrades. Each lap through the sessions felt good and we maximised everything we could in qualifying to achieve that P9 result. It’s a clear step forward in the right direction but the weekend is not over yet. Tomorrow, even though it will be tough, I will do everything I can to hold onto the Top 10 and bring home the best result possible!"
Alex Albon:
"The upgrade is performing as we expected and the positive now is that we’ve got the foundations. Now we're not talking about taking out weight anymore and can focus on aero upgrades, we can take this forwards into next year. We've hit our targets with this upgrade programme which is, in itself, an important thing to do. And now hopefully we have a car that can challenge the midfield at tracks that suit us. Honestly, today's qualifying result is frustrating, mostly because we were slow on the straights and I don't know why. The corners were quite good - Q3 worthy - and Carlos showed that, so there are some positives. Unfortunately, it's going to be a bit of a tough ask to get into the points from P13 tomorrow, but we'll try.”
Make your best guess!
Play our free game. Climb the global leaderboard, or join private and public groups!
Play Now
Earn WClub points
Latest
Trending
© 2026 The Williams Group, under licence to Williams IP Holdings LLC
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Services LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with company registration number OC456938 and whose registered address is at Station Road, Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 0DQ.
Powered By