Williams Takes Maiden Win in 2025 F1® Sim Racing World Championship with an All-Spanish Line-up

Williams Esports has made a dream start to the 2025 F1® Sim Racing World Championship, securing three pole positions and one race win at the opening event.

Ismael Fahssi and Álvaro Carretón returned from last season, continuing their impressive development, while Rubén Pedreño made his debut for Williams after signing from Alpine last year—securing an all-Spanish driver line-up for the season.

The season kicked off at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia (or at least, its virtual counterpart). Ismael made an incredible start, taking his maiden pole position and securing Williams’ best qualifying result since Round 6 of the 2020 F1® Esports season. Álvaro, however, struggled in qualifying, making a slight mistake in the final sector that saw him eliminated in Q1.

With such a strong statement from the young Spaniard, the pressure was on to deliver in the race. Despite briefly dropping to second behind Mercedes’ Dani Bereznay, who pitted early, Ismael managed his race brilliantly. Under immense pressure from Kick F1’s Thomas Ronhaar on the final lap, Ismael seized his opportunity, making a decisive move on Bereznay at Turn 12 to take the lead – and held on to claim his maiden victory.

Meanwhile, Álvaro – an OG Williams sim racer - fought hard from the back, making multiple overtakes to finish P9, ensuring a double points finish for Williams in the first race of the season.

The second day of competition saw the second and third races. In qualifying, Ismael once again made it through to Q3, securing P7, while Álvaro suffered another setback, a small mistake in the final corner leaving him in P18. The Chinese Grand Prix was eventful, with both drivers battling through the field despite Álvaro being caught in several incidents. They ultimately finished P13 and P4, adding more points to Williams’ tally.

For the second race of the day in Bahrain, Ismael continued his impressive form, taking his second pole of the event. Rubén also made his debut, progressing to Q2 and qualifying P15.

In the race, the watch word was DRS – with many trains forming based off when teams chose to pit. Ismael got locked into a battle with Tom Manley, Istvan Puki, and Bari Broumand for the top spot – with the Ferrari of Broumand eventually taking the win, and Ismael finishing with a podium spot of P3. Rubén fought hard, taking an alternative strategy, and battling in the midfield, finishing his Williams debut race in P15.

For the final race of the event in Jeddah, Álvaro returned to the cockpit. Under the floodlights, all eyes were on Ismael to see if his previous poles were a fluke. He proved the doubters wrong, storming to his third pole of the season. Álvaro also had a strong qualifying, making his first Q2 appearance and securing P11.

The race saw a wide variety of strategies, with Williams opting for a longer stint. However, the race was dramatically disrupted by the biggest incident in F1® Sim Racing history. Dani Bereznay and Thomas Ronhaar collided, blocking the track, and taking six drivers out of the race. In a remarkable display of reflexes, both Williams drivers avoided the chaos, with Álvaro gaining six positions in mere seconds – phew!

Despite the dramatic turn of events, Ismael and Álvaro were unable to maximise their finishing positions, with Ismael crossing the line in P6 and Álvaro in P9. However, following a lengthy post-race stewards’ review, both drivers had their one-second penalties rescinded, while Ronhaar received a five-second penalty for causing the crash, promoting Williams further up the standings.

Williams now leads the Drivers’ Championship and sits second in the Teams’ Championship. With heads held high, the team looks forward to Event 2 this week.

F1® Sim Racing (formerly F1® Esports) is the official virtual Formula One championship, organised and sanctioned by Formula One itself.

The series has been running since 2017 and gained significant attention in 2020 when real-world F1 activity was paused. Since then, it has continued to grow, with ever-increasing viewing figures.

Drivers compete across a season of virtual Grands Prix, scoring points in the same manner as their real-world counterparts, plus an additional point for the fastest lap in qualifying.

Since 2024, the championship has been hosted entirely on-site at the EFG Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. All ten teams bring their drivers, management, and engineers to compete in person, creating a high-energy LAN event with an electrifying atmosphere.

Previous Williams Esports drivers include well-known Sim Racing names such as Shanaka Clay, Daniele Haddad, Michael Romanidis, and Isaac Price. With their latest success, Williams becomes the final of the ten F1 teams to secure a win in the championship.

The team's highest-ever points tally was 105 in 2019, finishing fifth in the standings. Last season, Williams scored 81 points and finished seventh.

Going into this season, the reigning champions are Ferrari in the Teams’ Championship and Red Bull’s Frederik Rasmussen in the Drivers’ Championship. Both will be aiming to defend their titles over the course of this long season.

The 2025 F1® Sim Racing season spans three months and consists of three events, all held at the EFG Studios in Stockholm. Each event features four races across three days.

The first event also included a dedicated media and testing day, allowing teams to familiarise themselves with the studio setup and complete all media obligations for the season.

📅 13-16 January 2025🏁 Races:

📅 11-13 February 2025🏁 Races:

📅 25-27 March 2025🏁 Races:

All races are streamed live on the Formula One YouTube channel, with teams competing for a share of the $750,000 prize pool. Check out our socials for all things Williams Esports – VAMOSSSSS!