When you consider it, Carlos Sainz Jr. calling his first laps within the Williams FW47 “easy” simply is sensible.
Williams launched the FW47, the staff’s challenger for the 2025 Formulation 1 season, at a particular occasion at Silverstone on Friday, the positioning of the British Grand Prix. The staff unveiled the FW47 in a bespoke one-off livery that the staff will use at this season’s British Grand Prix and can debut their fundamental look subsequent week at F1’s first-ever season launch occasion at The O2 in London.
Following the revealing, each Sainz and teammate Alexander Albon put the FW47 via a shakedown session, with Sainz driving within the morning and Albon within the afternoon. Whereas February at Silverstone doesn’t provide up the perfect testing circumstances, Williams and Albon reported that the solar did peek via the clouds after lunch for his time within the cockpit.
Williams Staff Principal James Vowles praised the “progress” the staff has made this low season, in addition to Williams’ “formidable” driver lineup.
“The primary run of the FW47 is the results of tens of 1000’s of hours of labor and a second of immense delight that symbolises the progress we’re making at Atlassian Williams Racing,” mentioned Vowles within the staff’s media report. “We rolled out the automotive on the exact second we mentioned we might, on reside tv, with a formidable new driver line-up and a unbelievable new title associate in Atlassian. There’s a lot to stay up for in 2025 and I can’t wait to go racing subsequent month.”
Chief Engineer Dave Robson provided some technical suggestions, noting that the FW47 and its programs are “behaving as meant” and that the staff was capable of full the deliberate program with out challenge.
“In the present day we launched the FW47 at Silverstone and had the chance to shakedown the brand new automotive and to verify that the programs are behaving as meant.
“Carlos and Alex shared the driving via the day, and between them have been capable of full the permitted 200km with out challenge. The automotive ran properly and, having accomplished a number of cautious laps to verify that every thing was working appropriately, we have been capable of push the automotive exhausting and ensure that there have been no main issues,” continued Robson. “Inevitably, we discovered a number of very minor points, however these will probably be rapidly resolved earlier than we arrive in Bahrain, and so they didn’t have an effect on the working as we speak.
“Within the chilly circumstances, 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 essential traits of the automotive are very near expectation and there aren’t any speedy 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 number of days to make use of the expertise from as we speak to [finalize] our testing plan for Bahrain,” added Robson. “Now that we’re assured that the automotive will run properly, we’re in an important place to maximise our time in Bahrain and to make sure that we arrive in Melbourne prepared to start out the 2025 season strongly.”
Each drivers have been overwhelmingly constructive of their post-session stories.
“I’m actually glad,” mentioned Albon. “Usually this climate makes the automotive really feel good, and it did as we speak. We gained’t know for certain what the automotive is like till Bahrain, however the automotive was dependable, and we placed on an important present for our companions and followers, so I hope everybody loved that. Roll on Bahrain!”
Then there may be Sainz, who joined the staff following his departure from Ferrari, led to by Lewis Hamilton’s beautiful resolution to depart Mercedes and be a part of the Scuderia for the 2025 marketing campaign. Sainz, who has earned the nickname “Easy 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 carried out and it has been a easy day. We managed to finish all of the run plan with none points, and I obtained my first correct feeling for the automotive,” mentioned Sainz. “It was a daring assertion from Williams to indicate the primary lap of this new automotive to our companions, the media, and our followers, and it went very properly. Good job to everybody again at Grove – now we’re prepared for the season to start out.”
