Williams in the News: Strategy, Structure and Strong Futures

The Temple of Speed lived up to its name last weekend, delivering the quickest race in Formula 1 history. Alex’s Hard tyre start saw him climb into the points from P14, Carlos played the team game and was unfortunate not to score himself, plus attention turned to the longer-term rebuild of Grove.

Away from F1, Luke Browning secured his first Formula 2 victory, whislt Alessandro Giusti also confirmed his next step.

Here’s a round-up of the latest stories.

Starting on hard tyres from P14, Alex powered through to finish seventh at Monza, praising the blend of strategy and pace in his race when speaking to F1.com.

“Fantastic strategy and great car pace, I think those two together, you are going to have a good time of it,” Albon explained as he reflected on his race.

“Honestly… It was meant to be a tough race on paper but actually we were the first hard car once everyone pitted. I don’t want to call it an easy race, but the car was really nice to drive. One of the best Sundays balance-wise I’ve had all year."

Lap 24 saw Atlassian Williams Racing make the call to swap cars, with Carlos - on worn Mediums - giving way to Alex to attack Antonelli’s Mercedes. The Race detailed how the strategy paid off.

“He was able to catch and pass Antonelli's Mercedes – despite some "erratic driving" from Antonelli that the stewards took a dim view of,” they explained. “That meant a seventh-place finish on merit for Albon and Williams.

“After the race, Sainz said there wasn't any reluctance to the team order once he had "perspective of the big picture of the race" from his engineer.

“In fact, it was team-mate Albon who was somewhat indifferent to making the swap at the time.”

Motorsport Magazine ran a feature-length piece titled The Big Comeback, profiling James Vowles and Dorilton’s rebuild of Williams, plus what lies ahead.

"But in terms of building/infrastructure/systems/processes – we're only about 30-50%,” Vowles commented midway through the interview. “Still a long way to go, I think the '28 car will be the first one on which we're firing on all cylinders and using everything in the right way.

“Until then we're still... this year's car is better because we have the foundations in place. Next year's will be better because the foundations are more solid. The year after we'll have a lot more structures and systems in place. Then 2028 is the first time we'll have the right people in the right places with the right systems and structure.

"We're nowhere near the state to fight for a world championship today, but the investment we're doing is for that. It's not to finish fourth or third."

Luke Browning claimed his first Formula 2 victory at Monza, a major milestone in his first full campaign. Speaking afterwards to Formula 2, he underlined his determination to keep the momentum going.

“It’s amazing. I think we’ve now got to keep this mindset going into the next race. It’s the Championship we’re after, not just a race win, but it does feel very, very cool to achieve.

“Especially after taking such a big step from where we were in the Sprint Race to where we were today. Just very, very grateful to the team.

“But just because we had a good weekend this time around, doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy next weekend. So, we’ll keep focused on Baku and going forward.”

Also looking ahead, Alessandro Giusti confirmed he will remain in Formula 3 for a second season with MP Motorsport after a promising rookie campaign. As covered by Formula 3, he shared his excitement.

“I’m extremely happy to stay with MP Motorsport for a second season in FIA Formula 3,” said Giusti. “I feel really comfortable in this team, having built a very good relationship over the past year.

“I feel confident for the future as I found a family there. We will keep working hard during the winter to come back even stronger in 2026. I can’t wait to be back behind the wheel already!”