The Atlassian Williams Racing Team would complete their three days of pre-season testing at Bahrain with Carlos Sainz finishing overall quickest of the times set. He would be backed up by Alex Albon such that the team would finish fourth in the rankings based on the teams assessed qualifying and race simulation pace.

For the Williams team there was the added bonus of seeing their times been a step forward over what they had achieved in 2024. For many this was an indication of progress been made by the team.

Despite having set the quickest time in discussions with media on Day 3 Carlos spoke of some of the issues that he had over his time in the FW47.

Carlos said: "In terms of driving style, I am still understanding what I need to do with this car to go quick because if I am honest, I am still a bit lost in terms of how to find the lap time."

He added: "I don’t know if it’s going to come on entries, on exits, minimum speeds and that’s why yesterday’s run was important for me to understand where the lap time is coming from. I feel like when I push it I can get to a decent level I still don’t know where the last two tenths of the car are."

"This is what I need to discover in the first five, six races as I put more soft tyres on the car to try and understand where the lap time is going to come from."

Carlos also spoke of how well his relationship with Alex is going given their short time together at Williams. He felt that they had already established a good working relationship.

Carlos commented: "Alex is one of the best guys I’ve come across in Formula 1."

"I think he’s an incredibly talented guy but more than anything a good human being. And you can tell he’s in this path with Williams where he’s trying to bring this team back to the top."

"The feedback that he gives, the feedback that he’s giving me about the team, the car, the way he’s helping me also understand the way the team operates and the way the technical element was going last year."

"It’s exactly the kind of relationship and the kind of teammate I need right now in Williams because we’re going to push flat out, both of ourselves to try and bring this team back to the front. And I think Alex is the perfect guy to do that."

So overall it was a positive three days of testing for the Williams team but one could argue that given the fact that the team has started 2025 with a car closely based on those they had at the end of last season this could be expected. This might have enabled them to gain the most from the FW47 quite quickly.

But the only concern might be in terms of how much development they can bring to the car during the 2025 season. Or is this something given their focus on 2026 that a limited amount of development is what is planned.