The Furious Meltdown of Williams in 2025

Williams’ 2025 F1 season has become one of the year’s biggest talking points…for now, perhaps, the WRONG reasons…but perhaps this was coming.

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Williams and their 2025 F1 campaign has gone from a surprise upswing right back to reality in just a few short weeks. After a rapid start with standout performances and a much-improved FW47, reality has hit hard with reliability issues and public frustrations aired by both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. The dream run which has resulted in the team’s best year since 2017 then go on to expose lingering technical and operational problems that team principal James Vowles HAD warned could haunt them this year…but perhaps got lost in the hype. Meanwhile, rival Sauber has been quietly surging forward with clean race-day decisions and steady upgrades, adding salt to Williams’ wounds and capturing fans’ attention.

This video breaks down the turning points, the real reasons behind Williams’ furious meltdown and what it means for their future going into 2026. Has Sauber given Audi an ideal platform in which to contest next season, steal Williams’ thunder?

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The Furious Meltdown of Williams in 2025

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Williams fans are not okay right now. The team is in the middle of a meltdown right after their brakes. Literally melted down in Austria. And it’s just yet another example as to why their drivers are furious with them. Hence the furious meltdown title. None of this was supposed to happen, at least not so dramatically. When a team exceeds expectations, it’s natural to hope the momentum will last. But when reality hits, it stings. Whatever happens, Williams have found themselves with a car which is far more competitive than what it was last year when they looked almost like they were going to be coming last had it not been for Sala. We will talk about them in a moment. But what we have seen in the last few races proves that the car and team still have issues in which they need to resolve. But we need to go back to what the team was talking about back in the middle of March and in the winter. something of which I think the team have gotten themselves lost in understandably so due to all the hype and mystery perfectly natural Williams have found some success. So naturally, you think the success will continue. And since that quote, many of us have been distracted by the team’s Q3 appearances, top five finishes, and the leap from P9 to P5 in the constructors. Whilst the other midfield teams have made relatively little progress, except for Salour, of course, the first third of the season was absolutely spectacular for Williams at points when they were able to show up Ferrari at a couple of races. Alex Albon positively salivating at the prospect of competing against a Mercedes and a Red Bull in Miami. Particularly, it’s a compelling story because right out of the gate, the FW47 proved to be a little bit of a rocket ship. Not the biggest rocket ship out there, but still it looked quite cute, as in a look at Williams, but good for you. And they had two motivated drivers. Drivers that were willing to prove a point that they might actually have a car in which to do so. And after years of underachieving considerably and just as spectacularly, the team looked like they were going somewhere. But now, 4 months later, reality is beginning to bite that the car is now more often than not finding itself either parked up at the side of the track or having to be told to box to retire the car. And both drivers are airing their grievances live on TV while the garage looks stretched. The surge past their rivals was indeed really cool to see. But the downturn has been just as dramatic, and that’s a reminder. And if you would like further reminding of where the team found themselves and how they were trying to keep themselves grounded, a short view back to the past to FP1 at Albert Park. This is what James had to say during the revelations in that first practice session that Williams might have had something him. It’s great what’s going on right now. This is what I would call the most lowhanging fruit that we’re picking up along the way. There are some great things that are happening back in Grove that are more coming online across the next few years and you can see it in individuals that is just building this momentum and positive energy. So, what you see today is just a little bit of a fallout for it. But it is an FP1. It’s great. It’s nice to see, but it’s an FP1. Let’s wait until qualifying and the race and a few races in, which is also why I’ll bring everyone to our future and the destination we’re going toward. You see, whilst James is obviously pleased that they’ve gotten off on the right foot in these first few sessions of the season, it certainly was a lot more compelling than they expected and was actually capitalizing on what they showed in preseason testing. There was still some cautious optimism to be had that it was very much softly softly and to not get ahead of ourselves. I think they have gotten ahead of themselves. You do get the sense though that despite James calling for calm and rational thinking and pragmatism, the team have very much been swept up in their own success that they were certainly not expecting to be fifth place in the constructors and by quite a sizable margin at one point double the amount of points H had. Even in those times, you can just start to think, “Yeah, we we can actually do this. Oh, this will be really cool.” Well, uh, yeah, that’s all very well and good, but you got to look at the reality here that, yeah, they have managed to get a lot of success, but at the same time, the wind tunnel and ATR allocations have been reset a couple of days ago, and Williams have been the biggest losers in that regard. They have lost a heck of a lot of wind tunnel time that could easily be used for 2026. That has been a huge blow all in the midst of short-term gains, and that is going completely against their modus operendi. Oh, come on, Lord. Let them enjoy it. Alex was teasing a fezer around an Italian track for goodness sake. Well, yeah. Okay, I’ll let you have that. May I remind you from that quote James was talking about things coming online over the next few years. There’s still a fair ways to go here. This is kind of like where Aston Martin were back in 2023. I’ve made the comparison before on this channel and all of the stuff they’ve been doing right now is to make sure they get off on a good note, which did work for Hat in 2021. in 2022 started off spectacularly. It’s just that Steiner’s way of upgrading the car simply meant that progress fell flat. And at least James will get to realize his vision since he did get a contract extension through the rest of the decade. That’s neat. But the purpose of this video is not to talk about, oh, there’s a furious meltdown. They suck. No, this is just to remind people of where Williams were at the beginning of the year and what they were calling for. Patience. There’s still a lot of things that are wrong with this team. A lot of their problems haven’t vanished overnight. Yes, that winter weight loss and switch to Mercedes supplied suspension has given them an instant boost in lap time in a crowded midfield, but as the season goes on and parts start to become a little bit more scarce amongst all concerned, durability problems will begin to crop up. The car is much faster than its predecessor, but it is also just as fragile. So, the team’s biggest highs have started to turn into their lowest lows. What goes up must come down and all that. And it will just not surprise me at all that as the season progresses, if Williams does not figure out some problems related to reliability, then we could easily see the Williams cars facing grid drops with them having to change components, especially of the power unit variety, which has been their biggest bug there. The car bugging out because it simply gets too hot. And these reliability issues hit the hardest in Austria. Both cars retired. No, one didn’t even make the start. And what made it even more gling is that Albon made good use of, you know, an okay respectable P12 in qualifying. He shot up in the midst of the staff and Antonyelli chaos to sixth. And it looked like he could easily stay there, maybe even pressure the likes of George Russell. We were thinking that, oh, okay, Williams are back, baby. Alex is about to get potentially another top five finish champion. Yeah, but you see that momentum matters very little if you can’t convert, which is exactly what happened. They brought him in as a precaution to make sure the engine didn’t go bang. And that wasn’t even the most dramatic of finishes because we saw signs seemingly stall on the starting line. He got going. He had to do a pit lane start. Then his brakes were smoking. Then they both caught fire and they kept burning and smoking for a good long while. I remember where I was sat in the grandstand for about 5, six, seven minutes, smoke billowing out of the Williams garage. But I think all of this is to do with some side effects that they are seeing with this huge change of philosophy with them adopting the Mercedes rear suspension and the cooling which surrounds it. According to racecar engineering.com, Williams chose the Mercedes rear suspension to improve traction and overall pace compared to their old setup, which did work. But as chief engineer Dave Robson explained, this meant completely redesigning all the cars cooling systems. That brings potential for future gains, yes, but as with any new system, it can also create unforeseen teething problems. The tighter packaging for the cooling system and rear brakes may have had an unintended consequence. Overheating. Now, I’m no engineer. I make no bones about that. But um uh fire from the brakes uh uh that that ain’t right. But yeah, the cooling issue is definitely going to be a major cause for concern for the rest of the summer, especially around Austria where it was certainly a lot warmer than expected and track temperatures were bordering 50° C. Is that is going to start dragging down that morale that had risen so considerably at the beginning of the year. It’ll all count for not at the end of the day. Science and Albon are going to be feeling the pain and that therefore will compromise their overall performance because they’ll be hesitant. They’ll be cautious. They’ll be thinking, “Oh, I better be careful otherwise the engine might go bang or something else will break and then I won’t score anything at all or I won’t have a chance to be able to try and score something.” Science’s confidence, I think, is at an all-time low with his tenure at the team. Probably even lower than it was in Miami. And that was a real shocker. The last three races have been seriously tragic. Albon not finishing any of the three. Carlos SC starting in Q1 for all three races. We’re back to where we were in 2024. qualifying being really gling because there were some precursors to the set brake fire hampering science’s ability to push and both cars his and Albons sustaining floor damage limiting their potential which implies that that floor is looking very very brittle because as we saw with Alex at the start of the race once repaired that car looked like it was on one and whilst Carlos had to watch him calling the situation the most frustrating thing a driver can face according to as.com and it’s not just science Albon probably feels even more frustrated because he arrived at Williams in their lowest moments in 2022, not that long ago, fighting hard for maybe a podium to prove to all sundry that he is not a fraud, that he is a legitimate Formula 1 driver and should remain in the sport for a good few more years yet that he can easily rise above his tenure with Red Bull and prove that he can deliver something. And for a brief second, having 42 points in a Williams for a good few months, that was looking absolutely brilliant. Exactly what he was hoping for. But now we’re getting a situation, according to F1 over steer, that you’re going into the British Grand Prix, a place where he has scored before in definitely weaker Williams machinery. He’s telling the team to not push the car because it might mean the core cooling issues have remained unsolved. or maybe the supposed Silverstone upgrades may not be enough because these problems have forced his retirement more often than not and it’s resulting in him being understandably stressed because if the same engine or cooling issues strike again, especially after there being a supposed fix, he’s right to be calling that potential scenario a disaster. Another pointless race, especially at their home event, that wouldn’t be just a blow for the team. It’ll be for the fans as well because all of us, myself included, have been caught in the classic hype train trap. I thought it was sustainable. I thought it was legit. For a good several races, it looked like it was going to keep on chugging. But now it’s come to a screeching halt. The gap between expectations and reality has now vanished. This is the real wes right now. And it certainly doesn’t help Williams that they are in a situation that they’ve not found themselves in for a good couple of decades, having two high-profile drivers with very high expectations and very little tolerance for failure or a lack of results. Carlos especially coming off of a great season with Ferrari, having a really strong campaign, being much closer toll than many people thought he would be, and then he goes to Williams hoping to rebuild it. And then there have been more times than not where he’s had to play second fiddle. And then when he does get the opportunity to shine, either the car breaks on him or the team lets him down in terms of communication and logistics and he just feels like there could have been so much more, but we didn’t get it. So yeah, at the moment his particular revenge arc is firmly on ice. And you might be able to tell that I’ve not even touched properly on the communications issues right now because they in themselves have been a major concern. But fortunately, it does look like James is responding to that. there are steady changes of foot although it is going down swinging because even in Canada we heard the likes of Alex just complaining that he wasn’t being listened to properly and then him clarifying that oh that thing wasn’t just a one-time situation on the radio. No, that was happening every single lap. So Alex kind of made the situation worse based on his quotes. And as I touched upon, there are supposedly going to be some upgrades or updates made to the cooling system, which hopefully may mean the engine and the brakes won’t be overheating anytime soon. And the cooler conditions around Silverstone will help. But we won’t see the full effects until maybe the Hungarian Grand Prix, where historically it actually has been quite a scorcher. But needless to say, everybody, including the team, have let the excitement of the situation they find themselves in get the better of them. that even James Vows, the guy who’s been the strongest proponent of patience, had allowed himself to get bought up into the exciting developments that he found himself in. Him expecting to have regular Q3 appearances. And do you know what makes this thing all the more for them? Well, just look at what’s happening at SA right now because their patient rebuild is paying off just as Williams has slipped back. Three straight points finishes for Nico Hulenberg. And now Gabrielle Bhortletto has made a huge impact of his own in Q3 and converted it into points. He might have scored even more had it not been for his wy olden manager. And you’re starting to see the effects of all the building work which have manifested since Mati Bonato arrived as the lead of this particular operation on Audi’s behalf. The upgrades have proven to have worked. There have been even more upgrades for Austria which have been even more effective. There’s consistency. The new day-to-day boss, Jonathan Weekly, is able to show what he can do in terms of operational administration on the daily, the pit stop implementations, the improvements, which had already been developing since last year with their new equipment. It’s all come together rather quickly and has shown us that SA on race day is really slick that even with the stewards, Jonathan can just charm his way into their good books and they can get away with Moa. It’s helped change Sala’s fortunes considerably because in the last three races, Sala has scored a total of 20 points, more than any other midfield team. More than Red Bull. More than Red Bull. Williams, meanwhile, started 2025 with the pace, but are now reminded how steep their climb still is. Playful reliability, radio missteps, and drivers openly frustrated. As SA rises, each of their results highlights what Williams is still missing. Now hang on a minute. That’s not fair to compare the two. Williams have had to come from further back than Sala have. And yes, you are valid to point that out. It might seem on the surface unfair to compare SA and Williams. Their rebuild timelines are different. Their sources of investment are different. And the technical risks that they have partaken in this year are also very different. But then at the same time, it is reasonably fair to compare these two teams in where they started the season. Both teams come from a similar place in terms of budget and where they were in 2024. These two teams were ninth and 10th respectively. They were very much the back markers of 2024. And also, it’s quite fair to compare the two because it just goes to show that even if you don’t have the best team, the way you use that team can easily bring you points or lose you points because Sala have been quite clean in their operations even though with a couple of wobbles in terms of strategy, but right now they are very much on song and it results in a team which is gaining morale by the day and has been now consistently scoring points. You can no longer call the Saba C-45 the tractor of 2025. And also over the radio, it’s calm. You don’t hear either driver getting particularly angry. It’s all gravy. It therefore builds up this sense of unity. And it’s all encapsulated with their first double points finish in a very long time since 2023. And the sight of Gabrielle being greeted by Nico Hulenberg in a towel. That just shows how relaxed they are right now. It’s so chill at the moment, especially considering where the midfield are right now where two or three points can make the difference between P9 and P6. And that just makes Williams’ situation all the more glaring because look where Saabour have come from in the span of 12 months or so. Yes, Williams have made developments of their own and they are certainly a stronger operation than they were when James V took over. But you got to look at where Saabour have come from and their turnaround story is all the more remarkable especially when you look where they were this time last year where it was quite clear that the aspirations of the team were playing second fiddle as to who Daddy Audi was going to pay the most attention to. Andreas Cidle, the former team principal and the CEO of the Salva Group and then Oliver Hoffman who was the main representative of Audi. They were bickering amongst themselves as to who was really in charge of the Audi Formula 1 project. Now both of them are gone. Matia Bonato was put in as the de facto leader of the F1 operation. He is free to do whatever he wanted. Jonathan Wheatley comes in to run the day-to-day. Matia Bonato can run behind the scenes thing, especially the power unit department. It’s all clear who is in charge and who does what. It’s now manifested in a team which looks positively slick because they got the right leadership. Even though this year did begin a little bit awkwardly where there were moments where Hulenberg and Bortalto could have spun the car on a straight because China, remember those clips? Yeah, I was really starting to get a bit sad because this is not the way SA should be ending their time in Formula 1. This kind of a season where they were looking to be dead last by a considerable margin. No, they’re not going to be doing that anymore. They’re going to be ending their time in Formula 1 SA swinging. Brilliant. Now, of course, you’ll be saying, “Well, hang on a minute, L. When does this matter? This is 2025. Williams have always been talking about 2026. And yes, you are right to bring that up that yeah, for Williams this year 2025 was an afterthought that whatever happens happens. Whatever. But you just got to look at what Williams did say the last few weeks and a couple of months. They have certainly gotten that little bit cocky and the drivers began to believe that they could at least get some glory and a cheeky podium and to maybe establish as to who is really the head honcho into next year where they could be a frontr running team. Brownie points people. Brownie points. Nevertheless, Sal’s uptick does make Williams look right now weaker because the evidence that more casual viewers absorb first and foremost are points, highlight reels, and team radio. They all tilt one way. Williams cars are breaking down, not scoring, whereas Sala are scoring. And with Nico Hulenberg pulling off hercuine efforts burn from the sterns right now, it means that the underlying context as to where the team’s fortunes are and what’s going on in the background don’t really matter on a Sunday afternoon because what you get amongst all of the media outlets are them praising Sala for making really solid race day calls and really getting their ducks in a row. their recent upgrades, according to many pundits, being sensible, effective, steady. Whereas, in contrast, you’re getting both Carlos Science and Alex Albon lamenting car problems and misfortunes for them not getting through into Q3. And in Carlos’ case, not even out of Q1. And as we know, negativity spreads far more easily and widely online. So therefore, it is going to attract attention, especially since Williams started off the season so strong and have now petered out. It’s slowly becoming between these two teams a case of the tortoise and the hair. The mood has shifted on social media. Williams arguably amplified the fan excitement after a really strong start, saying, “Yeah, yeah, we’re really good. Come on, fans. Cheer. Be happy for us.” Whereas Saba were quietly just plotting along, taking in the blows of people just going, “Oh, look at that. It’s a green tractor.” But now the fans have moved on from that train of thought and have now started to celebrate Sala more. Whereas Williams, they’re older news. And I think the difference here stems from who is in charge. James Val has proven to be a remarkably good team principal and very much deserving of his contract extension. I’m really proud of him. He really does deserve to carry this team forward for a good few more years yet. But there is a degree of naivee especially if he hopes to be part of the front running pack. He’s got to be dealing with the likes of Horner, Brown, Wolf. Wolf may give him a little bit of a pass, but if he is taking points away from Wolf’s team, yeah, expect that goodwill to evaporate. And then if Saber do kick on as Audi, then you’ll have Wheatly to play with who very much knows how to game Formula 1. Him being one of the main proponents as to why Abu Dhabi 2021 happened the way it did. That kind of winess will serve Sala well and is something that Red Bull allowed to escape from within their fingers. So even though Sala got off to a slow start, they are now starting to gain more and more momentum. The team looking really, really solid and sturdy and dramaree and even people starting to show them a little bit of goodwill, fortune, happiness for them. Something that was not afforded to them even with Valtry Botas amongst their ranks. People did not care about Saaba last year. They’re on to something. Whereas Williams right now, they were on to something and they did certainly have a good start. But now you’re getting a team which is struggling to find answers regarding cooling. They might have one for Silverstone. So watch this space, folks. But with Carlos and Alex being drivers with high expectations, it’s great when the car is working, but when it’s not working, you are going to get viciferous comment from them. them Carlos especially pleading the team to come up with something and to get their act together. They don’t want this for next year. They want the team to get their act together right now because they have sucked and pasted good points potentially podium. They want more and this desperation is not going to help the morale of the fans. It also helps that there is no trace of simmering tension between Hulkenberg and Bortalto. Should Audi be successful, they could easily lift each other to greater things. there’s no animosity or resentment or maybe jealousy between them. Whereas with Science and Albon, there could be a flicker of doubt despite their diplomatic pasts. Yeah, both Alex and Carlos want to bring Williams back to their former glory. But you do also sense that when they get there, they will be vying for the top banana spot. So, you know, it’s good right now, but later I’m going to have to break out the foam for that one. Whereas with Nico, where he is in his career right now, oh, he’s just happy to have a competitive car. If he can finish his career with at least one podium with a German team, he will be happy with that. And he will be equally happy to see Gabrielle kicking on all the more knowing that he had his play to part because this is the first time in Nico’s history in Formula 1 where he’s had a proper greenhorn rookie as a teammate. And I think he couldn’t be happier. So to sum up, this year has shown Williams and all of us that raw speed is never enough. The real race is about resilience, reliability, the grit to survive setbacks, learn from mistakes, and come back swinging. Williams started the story as if this was the beginning of a fairy tale. But that fairy tale has now turned into a furnace. Breakfires, DNFS, public frustration. This is not the Williams that James Vows wants to portray to the world. The furious meltdown in which I speak in the title is not only literal but also emotional. But here’s the thing about meltdowns. It’s not all doom and gloom. This could be the beginning of this particular fire forging something amongst the flames into something even stronger. Or in the public eye, the drivers hanging out the dirty laundry. What matters now isn’t how deep the meltdown goes, but whether Williams uses this as fuel for a real transformation. This team, these fans, they’ve lived through false dawns before. But every setback, every public airing of frustration, every moment of hope or heartbreak, it’s a part of a journey that makes the comeback matter. So, at the moment, if you are paying attention to the Williams story, don’t chalk this furious meltdown as to something of a permanent situation. No, it may look like this today, but tomorrow, if they can survive this this team, which I think they will, this could be the start of something legendary. This could be a Honda 2008 brawn 2009 moment. And uh if you want something instant for reassurance, uh at least they’re not Alpine. But yeah, it was gling though to watch all of this unfold in person, the failings of Austria for Williams. But I still had a good time regardless. To catch up on what it’s like to actually attend a Grand Prix over all four days, watch this video next straight after this one.