While the headlines of last weekend were taken by Mercedes’ George Russell who stormed to victory, and the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris who clashed both verbally and on the track once again, Carlos Sainz quietly did his job.
Williams have had a strong 2025 and sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, largely thanks to strong performances from Alex Albon, who has four P5 finishes throughout the year, and 70 points overall.
Carlos Sainz has less than half of his Thai teammate’s points haul, but outclassed Albon in Singapore, making the most grid positions out of anybody in the field after a weak qualifying session that saw him starting 18th.
Carlos Sainz ‘happy and proud’ with tenth-placed finish
A double disqualification on Saturday left both Williams at the back of the grid. | Atlassian Williams Racing
An overtake on Isack Hadjar on Lap 58 allowed Carlos Sainz to gain his eighth position of the day, leading to him scoring a singular point at Marina Bay.
The wily veteran managed 50 laps on the medium tire, managing to be the last driver to make their first pit stop and allowing for a fast final portion of the race on the soft tyre.
Sainz was fairly jubilant after the race, saying on his performance:
“Given the circumstances, we need to be happy and proud about our performance today. It was a straightforward race with no safety cars, but we still managed to progress through the field and grab a valuable point starting from P18.”
Carlos Sainz
He also reflected on what was a rare disappointing qualifying session for Williams, where both drivers were disqualified after each car breached rear wing technical regulations.
“We could’ve been fighting higher up the field today but all in all I’m very happy with our race execution. We’ll take the learnings and start preparing for the upcoming races.”
Sainz on how Saturday affected his race
Albon came across the line in P14 after starting from the pitlane, with Sainz’s P10 helping Williams to score their first point in Singapore since 2017 — when Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll were part of the team.
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Key to the race was a ‘team game’, says Vowles
Albon could not add to his teammate’s points haul, but was credited by his team principal on the strategy front. | Atlassian Williams Racing
Similarly to Sainz, Williams’ team principal James Vowles reflected on how the poor qualifying performance hampered the team’s potential on race day.
“We couldn’t have achieved more from our starting position, but that only reiterates my disappointment about our qualifying disqualification because we had a quick car today.”
Vowles, on the team’s performance
He credited both drivers, highlighting Albon on the tactical side despite the 29-year-old failing to pick up any points, stating:
“Congratulations to Carlos on a really strong drive to achieve a point today, and thank you to Alex for working closely on strategy to achieve that result – it really was a team game.”
Williams will head to Circuit of the Americas with a 30-point lead to closest Constructors’ Championship challengers Racing Bulls, who are in P6 on 72 points.
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