Two-tenths was the difference between the points and Alex Albon as Atlassian Williams Racing battled through the midfield in a tumultuous 2025 São Paulo GP.
Taking a long opening stint saw Alex Albon surge through the pack to P11 in the late stages of the race, while opening lap damage affected Carlos Sainz, who crossed the line in P13.
An idea of the frenetic Sunday F1 had in store was evident from the formation lap, with a mixture of all three compounds equipped throughout the order.
Williams split strategies between both cars, with Alex starting on used Mediums and Carlos on fresh Softs in an attempt to gain early positions in the 71-lap race.
That gamble worked for Carlos, who slotted into P13 behind Alex after some wheel-banging action with Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1.
Frustratingly, Carlos picked up damage in the melee, but escaped anything terminal. However, any further pushes forward would have to wait as an incident for Gabriel Bortoleto brought out the Safety Car.
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The restart brought a position for Alex, who soared past Fernando Alonso into Turn 1 to clinch P10 after Charles Leclerc tumbled off the road.
Leclerc's incident triggered another slowdown, this time for a Virtual Safety Car, and the second restart had a similar story for an FW47 and Alonso, this time with Carlos getting the better of the two-time champion.
Sitting in P9 and P10 in the middle of a DRS train, our two pilots saw their strategies split when Carlos dived into the pit lane to switch to Mediums on Lap 18 while Alex pushed onward.
An overtake on Esteban Ocon followed for Carlos on the new Pirellis, but his advance stalled at the rear wing of Liam Lawson's Racing Bull.
It was a different story for Alex, who had to drive on his mirrors as Nico Hulkenberg probed to pass the No.23, eventually passing at Turn 1 before Ollie Bearman also sped past.
That triggered a first stop for Alex at the halfway point, switching to Softs and getting back into the race with a brave overtake on Franco Colapinto at Turn 4.
Carlos' second pit stop soon followed, and he went for the Mediums to end his race. After not being able to pass Pierre Gasly, who stopped one lap later, our Spaniard followed the Alpine in overtaking Yuki Tsunoda to climb the order.
Shuffling positions also happened for Alex, who passed Alonso – who was on a different strategy – for the second time, but again lost out to Bearman at Turn 1.
Carlos reached the edge of the points-paying positions in the race's final act after Alex stopped for a final set of Mediums, but had to fight hard to keep Ocon behind.
A Fastest Lap for Alex showed the late-race speed he possessed, and he soon blitzed by Colapinto to start closing in on the battle between Carlos and Ocon.
Ocon's pass at Turn 4 saw Carlos play the team game and immediately let Alex by to attack instead, and that proved critical, with Albono storming by the Haas at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap.
Wheel-to-wheel contact on Gasly had Alex having to ease off in Sector 2 on the final tour, eventually crossing the line just two-tenths shy of the points.
There was some solace, though, with Alex scoring a first career Fastest Lap, and Williams' first in over a decade; Valtteri Bottas brought home our last one in the 2014 Russian GP.
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"It was a good race for the fans today," said Alex after stepping out of the cockpit, "but unfortunately for us it was a bit of a race to forget.
"We had good pace when we could show it. We've struggled with pace all weekend but seem to have recovered a little bit today.
"In the end what took us out of contention for points was that I think we stayed out too long on the first stint and we never really recovered from there.
"In the last stint we were quick and were fighting our way back up the grid and just missed out on a point at the end.
"It's frustrating that our rivals scored points today, but we will regroup and look forward to a better weekend in Las Vegas."
"Not the day I was hoping for," summarised Carlos.
"Once I got squeezed on turn 1, I had considerable damage to the car and my race was compromised from there.
"We managed to stay in the hunt for points most of the race but after a slow first stop and compiled with the damage, that was it unfortunately.
"Time to go back home and see what we can do in these types of circuits, as Qatar will also be a challenge.
"A few races to go, so we cannot relax. Let’s keep going."
James Vowles, Atlassian Williams Racing's Team Principal said, "A race that had so much promise but did not deliver results.
"In the case of Carlos, his race was over unfortunately again at turn 1 as a result of contact, damaging the front wing and suffering a significant loss in aero load.
"He fought valiantly through the race but, with the damage, we were unable to score a point today.
"With Alex, we didn't get it all right today. There was a point available to us, and lots of different strategies were playing out up and down the grid.
"He did a brilliant job and P7 was just a few seconds in front of him, but ultimately, we weren't able to capitalise on that.
"We'll go back, review, make sure we understand how we can make ourselves stronger and head to Las Vegas where I'm confident we'll be back fighting for points."
São Paulo 2025
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