How Alex Albon Secured his Best Result for Atlassian Williams Racing

The 2025 Formula 1 season got underway in spectacular fashion, and for Alex Albon, it marked a milestone moment with a P5 finish at the Australian Grand Prix. It was a performance that showcased skill, strategy, resilience and solidified Atlassian Williams Racing's place as a force in the midfield battle.

But how did Alex get to this moment? Let's dive into the journey that led him to his best-ever result for the team.

The road to success started long before the lights went out in Melbourne. Alex’s rigorous preparation began in January in California, working closely with his Performance Coach, Patrick Harding, to ensure he was in peak physical and mental condition for the long season ahead.

By February, he was back in the cockpit of our 2023 car at a TPC event in Barcelona, shaking off the winter rust before getting his first taste of the FW47 on Valentine’s Day.

A strong Pre-Season Test in Bahrain at the end of February injected optimism into the team at Grove. After a productive off-season and a solid testing programme, we had built a solid foundation upon which to work off, heading into the opening rounds of the season.

Historically, the first races of the year hadn’t been the kindest to Alex. Results of P14 for Toro Rosso in 2019 and a classified P13 (after retiring four laps early) for Red Bull in 2020 meant the wait for a season opening point continued.

During his time at Williams, his fortunes hadn't been much better, with just one point to show from his previous three season openers with us (P13 in Bahrain 2022, P10 in 2023, and P15 in 2024). However, there was a sense that things might be different in 2025.

Aside from a minor brake issue in FP1 that was quickly resolved, the three Practice sessions went smoothly. Albon finished P6 in FP1, P12 in FP2, and P7 in FP3 – a promising sign of what was to come. But the real test would be Qualifying.

For the first time in 2025, Qualifying would reveal the true pecking order of the grid, and Williams proved they were firmly in the mix. Both cars advanced to Q3 in Melbourne for the first time in a decade, a significant achievement for the team.

On his final Q3 lap, Albon delivered a stellar 1:15.737, securing a P6 grid slot for the race. However, the unpredictable Melbourne weather had one more twist in store: race day would be a wet and wild affair.

As forecast, the conditions on Sunday were treacherous. Albert Park’s temporary track surface, combined with road paint markings, made grip unpredictable. Even before the race began, Isack Hadjar’s spin on the formation lap led to an aborted start and a 15-minute delay, forcing Alex to refocus once more.

At lights out, our No23 kept it clean in a dramatic opening lap that saw two drivers eliminated, including teammate Carlos Sainz, who spun whilst upshifting at a difficult time, on a difficult part of the track. Alex lost just one position on the opening tour to Charles Leclerc, slotting into P7.

As the race unfolded, Albono was coolness personified in the mixed conditions. He initially attacked Yuki Tsunoda but soon had to shift into tyre management mode as his intermediates began to wear. Behind him loomed a formidable challenge – a seven-time World Champion in the form of Lewis Hamilton, making his Ferrari debut.

For multiple laps, Albon held off the charging Briton, deploying his energy at the perfect moments to keep his FW47 ahead.

Reflecting on the challenge, Albon later explained: "In those conditions, it’s just about knowing your limits.

“It’s easy to switch off your brain and just drive flat out, but you need a bit of a barrier to the limit.

“It was so gusty out there today, with more rain, track drying out, tyres overheating, tyres getting cold, Safety Car restarts… all of that means you can’t drive at 99%, not even 99%. You have to know when to take risks and when not to."

When Fernando Alonso’s crash on Lap 34 triggered a Safety Car, the entire field seized the opportunity to switch to slick tyres. Alex opted for mediums, knowing they would warm up faster than the hard compound chosen by some of his rivals.

On the restart, he immediately pressured Tsunoda ahead. However, as the race entered its final phase, all eyes turned to the sky. A Category 3 downpour was imminent, and the team had to make a critical strategy call.

With Carlos Sainz now playing a vital role from the pit wall, Alex had firsthand insight into the worsening conditions. On Lap 44, the rain arrived suddenly in the final sector. Leclerc spun at Turn 11, forcing Albon to take evasive action. As he exited Turn 12, he spotted both McLarens recovering from an off-track excursion. Recognising the moment, he dived into the pits for another set of intermediates.

Alex filtered down to P9, with six drivers ahead gambling on slicks as the rain continued to fall. Three of the six would peel in on the very next lap, leaving just the two Ferraris and Liam Lawson throwing caution to the wind on their slick tyres.

But the conditions were too much, and it wasn’t long before the Safety Car was deployed again - Lawson spun at T2, and Gabriel Bortoleto did likewise at T15.

Under the Safety Car, both Ferrari cars eventually peeled in to ditch their hard tyres for intermediates, elevating Alex to P4 for the restart.

"Survive, and you’ve got a chance," Alex said of the treacherous conditions. "I was talking about it in the race itself, it’s so slippery out there.

“These lines here, you can’t create paint as grippy as tarmac, and these cars are running so low now, you feel the difference between tarmac and paint."

As the rain eased, Albon now faced the challenge of keeping the charging Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli behind. Despite a valiant defensive effort, the young Italian used DRS to slip past around the top of the lake.

Antonelli was initially handed a five-second penalty, but this was suspended upon appeal, confirming Albon’s P5 finish.

Reflecting on his achievement, Albon was thrilled: "I’m really happy. It was such a crazy race.

“I’m still trying to get my head around it! It’s fantastic for the team – a P5 is very special and may not come around many times this year.

“Our strategist did an amazing job. Honestly, it was so difficult out there; these conditions are typically what we hate, and despite all of that, we were still one of the strongest midfield runners out there.

“Points like today mean a lot, and I’m positive about what’s to come. We’re a very bonded team, and it was great to have Carlos helping on the pit wall too. This is for everyone at Grove, for all their work."