Williams in Italian GP
Friday practice at Monza turned out to be pretty encouraging for Williams. Both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon looked competitive, and for once, the team can genuinely say, “we’re in a good place.”
Sainz was the star of the day, finishing third fastest in both FP1 and FP2. He was less than a tenth off Lando Norris in the second session, which is seriously impressive considering the company at the top of the timesheets. The only little caveat? His best lap came on the second push with the soft tyres, which isn’t usually ideal. Still, raw pace is raw pace—and it was great to see.
Williams in Italian GP
After the session, Sainz admitted he’s not fully comfortable yet, but the speed is there:
“The pace is there, we were quick. On long runs, short runs, the balance felt in a decent window. There are a couple of corners and the soft tyre we need to sort out. If we can manage that, and I get more comfortable in the car, hopefully there’s even more to come.”
It’s an important step for him too—he hasn’t scored points in the last five races, so being right up there on Friday is a much-needed confidence boost. His main concern now is nailing that first lap on fresh softs and ironing out those tricky corners. If he does that, he could be in the mix at the very front.
Albon, meanwhile, quietly had a solid day. Seventh in both sessions doesn’t sound spectacular, but when you look at the order, he was best of the rest behind McLaren, Ferrari, and Verstappen’s Red Bull. That’s a really solid place to be heading into qualifying.
The overall takeaway? Williams look like they’ve got a car that works around Monza. Both drivers were inside the top 10 in both sessions, the long-run pace looks competitive, and there’s a real chance of a double-points finish if they can string it together over the weekend. For a team that’s been searching for consistency, this was exactly the kind of Friday they needed.
Williams in Italian GP
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