When you consider it, Carlos Sainz Jr. calling his first laps within the Williams FW47 “easy” simply is sensible.
Williams launched the FW47, the crew’s challenger for the 2025 Method 1 season, at a particular occasion at Silverstone on Friday, the positioning of the British Grand Prix. The crew unveiled the FW47 in a bespoke one-off livery that the crew will use at this season’s British Grand Prix and can debut their most important look subsequent week at F1’s first-ever season launch occasion at The O2 in London.
Following the disclosing, each Sainz and teammate Alexander Albon put the FW47 by a shakedown session, with Sainz driving within the morning and Albon within the afternoon. Whereas February at Silverstone doesn’t supply up the best testing situations, Williams and Albon reported that the solar did peek by the clouds after lunch for his time within the cockpit.
Williams Workforce Principal James Vowles praised the “progress” the crew has made this low season, in addition to Williams’ “formidable” driver lineup.
“The primary run of the FW47 is the results of tens of hundreds of hours of labor and a second of immense satisfaction that symbolises the progress we’re making at Atlassian Williams Racing,” stated Vowles within the crew’s media report. “We rolled out the automobile on the exact second we stated we’d, on dwell tv, with a formidable new driver line-up and a unbelievable new title accomplice in Atlassian. There’s a lot to look ahead to in 2025 and I can’t wait to go racing subsequent month.”
Chief Engineer Dave Robson supplied some technical suggestions, noting that the FW47 and its methods are “behaving as meant” and that the crew was capable of full the deliberate program with out challenge.
“Immediately we launched the FW47 at Silverstone and had the chance to shakedown the brand new automobile and to verify that the methods are behaving as meant.
“Carlos and Alex shared the driving by the day, and between them had been capable of full the permitted 200km with out challenge. The automobile ran effectively and, having accomplished a couple of cautious laps to verify that every little thing was working accurately, we had been capable of push the automobile laborious and make sure that there have been no main issues,” continued Robson. “Inevitably, we discovered a couple of very minor points, however these will likely be shortly resolved earlier than we arrive in Bahrain, and so they didn’t have an effect on the operating right now.
“Within the chilly situations, and utilizing the Pirelli promotional tires, it’s inconceivable to evaluate the efficiency of the FW47, nevertheless, the telemetry and driver suggestions means that the fundamental traits of the automobile are very near expectation and there are not any fast dealing with considerations.”
Robson believes Friday’s session places Williams on a path to reach in Melbourne for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on the entrance foot.
“We now have a couple of days to make use of the expertise from right now to [finalize] our testing plan for Bahrain,” added Robson. “Now that we’re assured that the automobile will run effectively, we’re in an incredible place to maximise our time in Bahrain and to make sure that we arrive in Melbourne prepared to begin the 2025 season strongly.”
Each drivers had been overwhelmingly optimistic of their post-session reviews.
“I’m actually glad,” stated Albon. “Usually this climate makes the automobile really feel good, and it did right now. We gained’t know for certain what the automobile is like till Bahrain, however the automobile was dependable, and we placed on an incredible present for our companions and followers, so I hope everybody loved that. Roll on Bahrain!”
Then there’s Sainz, who joined the crew following his departure from Ferrari, caused by Lewis Hamilton’s gorgeous resolution to go away Mercedes and be a part of the Scuderia for the 2025 marketing campaign. Sainz, who has earned the nickname “Clean Operator” over his time within the sport, had this to say concerning the first laps within the FW47:
“The primary 100 kilometers within the FW47 are accomplished and it has been a easy day. We managed to finish all of the run plan with none points, and I bought my first correct feeling for the automobile,” stated Sainz. “It was a daring assertion from Williams to point out the primary lap of this new automobile to our companions, the media, and our followers, and it went very effectively. Good job to everybody again at Grove – now we’re prepared for the season to begin.”
