F1 practice: Williams have proven they're the real deal in 2025 - can Sainz or Albon win a race this season?

McLaren and Ferrari seem to be setting the pace early on, with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc respectively topping the timesheets in the first two practice sessions.

The McLaren also showed more consistent speed over long runs and both drivers are in contention at the front, with homeland hero Oscar Piastri close behind Norris in both sessions. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton took a little while to get on the pace of Leclerc, with the seven-time world champion 12th fastest in the first practice session.

But while everyone else is looking at the sharp end of the field, and trying to gauge whereabouts Mercedes and Red Bull fit into the picture, I think another team has announced itself as a genuine contender.

It has been more than a decade since a Williams driver won a race, with the team’s last victory coming from Pastor Maldonado at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. But Williams is one of the most storied outfits in the sport, arriving in F1 during the 1970s, then dominating a good portion of the 1990s.

Ex-drivers include the likes of Nico Rosberg, Ayrton Senna, Alan Prost, Nigel Mansell and Alan Jones - all of whom won the championship at least once during their careers. Now, having spent the late 2010s in the doldrums, a Williams revival has been a few years in the making could finally be paying dividends.

Having Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon as their drivers this season is a signal of intention; Williams are back, and they want to fight with the big boys. In pre-season testing at Bahrain, Sainz set the fastest time of all three days, but many pundits wrote it off as not being reflective of their true pace, or other teams not showing their true hand. Some even called it a “hero run” - where a team goes out purely to set the fastest time and grab the headlines.

But in free practice for Australia, Sainz was second fastest - just 0.149 seconds off Norris - and Sainz and Albon then set identical fastest laps in the second session, heading out to do longer runs on the medium C4 tyre.

Here’s the kicker... their pace on these runs was matching Leclerc and Hamilton in the Ferraris.

Forget being “best of the rest” and everyone’s predictions that they had the fifth fastest car - at best - I think Williams could be the ace in the hole in 2025. Especially early on, if Red Bull and Mercedes genuinely struggle prior to upgrading their cars, Williams could be contending with McLaren and Ferrari again, just like the good old days.

Once a season, there is a Grand Prix that descends into total chaos, either through wet weather, pit-stop blunders or a big first lap crash. These races are an opportunity for a midfield team to have their day in the sun, like Esteban Ocon winning for Alpine at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, or Sebastian Vettel’s debut win for Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008.

If the stars align, Sainz and Albon could be perfectly placed to end Williams 13-year drought and bring a winner’s trophy back to Grove.