REPORT: Friday Complete in Barcelona

The opening day of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix saw Atlassian Williams Racing complete 118 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Victor Martins all gathering valuable data for the weekend ahead.

It was a special moment for Victor as he was first on track in FP1, becoming the first French driver to compete for Williams in a Grand Prix weekend since Alain Prost in 1993.

The Williams Racing Driver Academy member focused on data collection and acclimatisation to F1 machinery, completing 26 tours on Hard and Medium compounds – his best time of a 1:15.522 placing him P19.

Carlos, meanwhile, concentrated on setup work, posting a best time of 1:14.935 on Medium tyres, placing him P15 in the session.

Alex returned to the cockpit for the second Practice session, with both drivers shifting focus to performance runs on the Soft compound before switching to high-fuel running. Carlos recorded a best lap of 1:13.721, securing P14, while Alex closely followed with a 1:13.839, placing him P15.

"It was an amazing experience to drive Alex’s car this weekend, and I’m super grateful to the team for the opportunity," Victor shared after FP1.

"The car has a lot of power and G-force, but I honestly felt really comfortable in the car. I had to stay focused as the team had a lot they wanted to achieve in the session, and I think it was a productive FP1 for us both.

"Driving alongside the same drivers I watched growing up was so special and I enjoyed every lap while I was out there!"

Reflecting on both Practice sessions, Carlos said: "It was tough out there today, but we expected it. The type of corners here are not the best for our car and right from the start of FP1, I felt how tricky it was.

"We tried to do some setup changes, and they seemed to go in the right direction, but we still can’t find enough lap time to be further up.

"We’ll try to take another step for tomorrow, as there is lots to understand and work on but we’ll keep pushing all weekend!"

After his hour of running in FP2, Alex commented: "I’ve only done one session so far this weekend, so there’s a bit of catching up to do. We’ve definitely got a better car than last year, but this track has never been the strongest for us and the track temperature is making it more difficult.

"We’ll take a look at it overnight and see what changes we can make to prepare for Qualifying tomorrow."