REPORT: Shanghai Sprint Grid Set

The opening day of the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix proved to be a mixed but promising affair for Atlassian Williams Racing, as Alex Albon delivered a strong performance to qualify ninth for Saturday’s Sprint, while Carlos Sainz narrowly missed out on SQ3, placing thirteenth.

With just one practice session before Sprint Qualifying, the team focused on long runs and tyre data collection. Plenty of drivers commented on how the newly re-surfaced Shanghai International Autodrome was showing high levels of grip.

Both drivers completed valuable mileage, with Alex finishing FP1 in P7 and Carlos in P15. A late red flag disrupted the run plan, limiting them to just one push lap on softs.

With the weekend’s only non-competitive session complete, attention turned to Sprint Qualifying. Both drivers progressed comfortably through SQ1, with Alex posting a 1:32.462, while Carlos was just marginally quicker on 1:32.457.

In SQ2, our Thai racer found more pace, setting a 1:31.539 to make it into SQ3 in seventh position. Carlos, however, was unable to improve enough to break into the top ten, his 1:32.325 leaving him in thirteenth, reporting over the radio that he was struggling with the balance of his FW47.

SQ3 brought with it the softest compound of tyres, and Alex’s run saw him set a 1:31.852, placing him ninth for the Sprint Race.

"I’m pretty happy, but I think we have a bit of work to do with the car," Alex shared after Sprint Quali.

"This track isn’t quite suiting us at the minute so we need to make a few changes. It’s not that easy to know what to do with the tyres, they’re quite sensitive.

"Long corners, like those here in China, tend to make the tyres work harder. It’s hard to get them to a good place and it feels like you have to manage them, and overmanage them in many ways. We’ll do some work overnight and try to come back stronger tomorrow."

After securing P13 in Sprint Qualifying, Carlos admitted he was still adapting to the FW47, citing balance struggles and some unexpected issues in the session.

"I’ve struggled all day with the balance and both sessions have been quite tough," he shared.

"In Sprint Quali we had a few issues, including a weird feeling with the seat that we’ll look into, but overall it comes down to me still not feeling at home in the car.

"I still have to learn and understand many things about it and I know with more mileage, it will come. Hopefully tomorrow we can put everything together and improve today’s result for Sunday."