Report: Japanese GP qualifying complete

P16 and P17 qualifications for Atlassian Williams F1 Team in Suzuka

Published

28 MAR 2026

Est. reading time

3 min

Carlos Sainz took Atlassian Williams F1 Team to Q2 around the Suzuka Circuit in qualifying for the Japanese GP, and will start one place ahead of Alex Albon on the grid.

It will be a P16 and P17 start for our two drivers, with Carlos setting 1:31.033 in Q2. Alex, meanwhile, had an early exit after his 1:31.088 wasn’t enough to escape Q1.

The tight times of Carlos and Alex was a running theme of our Saturday, with the two keeping close throughout Q1 and in FP3.

A tenth separated the teammates after their first laps of qualifying, with Alex just ahead of Carlos, but that flipped over for the second runs.

Half-a-second gains saw our No.55 reach the top 16 after setting a 1:30.927, but Alex just missed out after Franco Colapinto set a late lap to demote him to P17.

Carlos used a scrubbed set of softs for his first run, taking a 1:31.408 on that early effort. He remained in P16 over each of the 15 Q2 minutes even with a fresh set in the closing stages before that final 1:31.033 lap.

The order was inverted from our Free Practice 3 hour, where Alex ended the final practice session in P16. Only 0.096s split the Williams pair, with Carlos focusing on race runs and ending the session P18.

Forty-six laps of data gathering from FP3 will help us as we head to tomorrow’s race, the final grand prix Sunday until Miami.

James Vowles spoke to Carlos over the radio following his Q2 lap, saying that, “It was a good lap.

“It’s where the car is,” continued James. “Well done. We will keep getting better.”

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James Vowles, Team Principal:

“That was all the car had in it today. Well done to Carlos, who was able to put us through to Q2. We're making small steps every week, which is what's important right now, and we will continue to do so. There's a long road ahead of us, but I'm confident in our programme for the five-week break and the remainder of the year to put us back into a sensible position against our competitors. We know we don't have the car underneath us that we want today, but we'll still give everything tomorrow and fight for points if they become available to us.”

Carlos Sainz:

“Getting into Q2 was our best case scenario and we achieved it so I am happy with that. As a team we did everything we could and my laps were solid. We made some progress compared to China but at the same time we need to make sure we keep adding performance. P16 isn't where we want to be. I really enjoy driving around Suzuka and I’ll do my absolute best to maximise tomorrow’s race and see where we finish.”

Alex Albon:

“Today was frustrating because the car feels like it's behaving well and I felt the most in tune with the car this year so far and the rhythm was good. We've fixed some issues in the car from Melbourne and China but there's a separate one that we're being a little bit hampered by. It's nothing we can't fix, but as a team we need to understand where it's coming from. I'm happy with my driving and we're good in the corners so we'll have a look at the data overnight and see where we can look to gain a little performance.”

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28 MAR 2026