REPORT: Q3 Reached in Dutch GP Quali

Atlassian Williams Racing resumed competitive action in 2025 after the summer break with a Q3 appearance as Carlos Sainz reached P9, with Alex Albon taking P15 in Q2.

Another tight Qualifying session had little between the crowded midfield, where a single tenth could make all the difference between frustration or celebration.

Carlos ended his Saturday with a 1:09.505, while Alex could not improve on his second run in Q2, exiting the session after setting a 1:09.652.

After two days that had rainfall around the sessions, the clouds parted to bathe the Zandvoort circuit in sunshine for the first Qualifying session since the summer shutdown.

Our FW47 machines repeatedly headed out of the pit lane in flying formation, with Carlos leading Alex to take to the track.

Q1 saw a small gap between our duo, with a 1:10.355 for Carlos and 1:10.423 for Carlos to see them sitting in P12 and P13.

Improvements made on second runs flipped the fortunes of the FW47 pair, with Alex going faster on a 1:09.792 against Carlos' 1:09.980. Yet those two tenths had Albono reaching Q2 in P6 and our Spaniard further back in P14.

Alex continued the advantage on the first Q2 run earning a 1:09.652 to be another tenth ahead of Carlos, but the No55 found an improvement on his second attempt while Alex could not.

"No tyres at all," was the complaint from the cockpit as our No23 exited Q2 in P15. Even a 0.030s improvement would've meant P12 in this incredibly tight grid.

Carlos, however was gearing up for his first Q3 since Imola thanks to a 1:09.472 sneaking him in with a P10 result.

The quieter track meant traffic was not a concern for CS55 as he appeared with scrubbed tyres to attack on his first lap – one of four drivers to do so.

As expected, the second run with fresh Pirellis was where the lap time was, gaining Carlos over four tenths from 1:09.940 to 1:09.505 between the two laps.

P9 makes it an all-Spanish fifth row alongside Fernando Alonso, though fine margins emerged again with Liam Lawson's P8 just 0.005s away.

"Well done, Carlos," was the congratulatory radio message from James Vowles on the Q3 in-lap. "Still a lot to understand on the tyres, but well done. Really well managed."

"Thank you," replied Carlos, continuing to say, "Yeah, it was close to the maximum."

Carlos spoke further after stepping out of the car and debriefing with the team:

"Once the track temperatures went up, we lost performance from FP3 to Qualifying and I felt it straight away.

"We needed very solid laps to progress through the session and, whilst it’s slightly disappointing to not be higher up the order, we maximised what we could and P9 is a decent position to fight tomorrow.

"We’ll keep an eye on the weather and give our best during the race."

Alex was honest in his assessment as he said, "It’s been a frustrating afternoon."

"We’ve been quick all weekend and strong in Qualifying, but on our second lap in Q2 we just didn’t have the tyres.

"The operating window is so small, and after queuing for several minutes in the pitlane our out lap was compromised. Obviously, it wasn’t intentional, but for us every detail has to be perfect, and the out lap is crucial.

"I was confident we could comfortably make the top ten, but we were out of the window. The margins between Q2 and Q3 are so tight now that you can’t afford mistakes or a poor out lap.

"Tomorrow will be tough as this track can be a bit of a train, but let’s see what the weather brings and what we can do."

James Vowles, Atlassian Williams Racing's Team Principal echoed the thoughts of both drivers.

"Well done to Carlos – really great execution and well done to the team in what I suspect is the closest grid we've seen in Formula 1.

"With Alex, the pace was clearly there today, and I’m confident he had the pace to reach Q3.

"But we’re right on a knife edge with getting the tyres to work, and a slightly slower out lap behind another car tipped us the wrong way.

"That’s something we’ll review and make sure we refine operationally going forward.

"More importantly, though, we need to give ourselves more flexibility to cope with a wider range of situations.

"Irrespective of today, we know the race car is strong. Overtaking is never easy here, but there will be potential opportunities tomorrow – especially if the weather comes into play."