Atlassian Williams Racing has enjoyed a tremendous beginning to the 2025 Formula 1 season.
What might have been considered a transition year for the team, with Carlos Sainz Jr. joining the driver lineup and this season representing the final year before the new regulations arrive in 2026, the start to the campaign has been anything but a transition. The team is off to a roaring start, and they enter the European portion of the calendar sitting fifth in the Constructors’ Championship standings, 17 points ahead of sixth-place Haas.
Ahead of this week’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, SB Nation caught up with driver Alexander Albon to discuss the team’s start to the season, his hopes for the rest of the campaign, and the importance of hydration and nutrition in Formula 1.
The start of the 2025 season for Atlassian Williams Racing
The discussion began with a focus on what the team has accomplished so far this season. Albon began the year with a strong performance in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, finishing fifth in Melbourne. While weather may have played a role in that result, Albon also came across the line fifth in the Miami Grand Prix, a result purely on merit and pace.
Albon described the team’s start to the season as “promising,” pointing to the 37 points Atlassian Williams Racing has banked over just six races.
“It’s been a very promising start to the 2025 season. We’ve produced some really strong results and scored a huge amount of points compared to recent seasons, especially considering we’re only six races into the year,” noted Albon.
Both Albon and Sainz expressed confidence throughout the week in Miami. Sainz highlighted after qualifying how he was just “three-tenths” off pole position when he qualified sixth, and Albon spoke at length with the media, including SB Nation, about the FW47’s pace following his P5 in Miami.
Asked about the team’s 2025 challenger, Albon highlighted just how tight the field is this season and the need to keep pushing.
“It’s the last year of this regulation set so the gap between teams is getting smaller and smaller which places greater focus on us drivers delivering the best possible lap and extracting the very maximum from the car,” began Albon. “If you make the smallest mistake which costs you a tenth in laptime, it can mean four or five positions on the grid.
“We have started the season strongly, and we’re delivering on the opportunities we’re creating, we just need to ensure we don’t get complacent and get the very maximum from what we have.”
Something else happened in Miami ahead of the Grand Prix that I simply needed to ask Albon about.
The LEGO drivers’ parade.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, the 20 drivers took to the track in “big build” LEGO F1 cars, one for each team on the grid. Chaos, as well as pure joy, ensued.
“It was so much fun!” exclaimed Albon when asked about the LEGO drivers’ parade.
“Just before a race, we’re in the zone and concentrating on everything we have to do and remember. So the drivers parade it was a welcome surprise to see the LEGO cars on the grid for the drivers’ parade,” added Albon. “I am a HUGE LEGO fan, I have been since I was a kid and so when I saw them, even though I was in ‘race mode’, deep down I was super excited to jump in and have some fun.”
F1 released a 15-minute video featuring footage from each car’s onboard camera, which you can watch to see just how much fun Albon and company had that Sunday in Miami before the Grand Prix.
The importance of nutrition and hydration in F1
The more time I spend around F1, the more I learn. From what it takes to handle a car on the track, to what the drivers need to do away from the grid to maintain elite performance. For example, ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix, I spent time with Tom Clark, Esteban Ocon’s performance coach, to learn how drivers handle travel, strength training, and more.
Having spent a week in Florida for the Miami Grand Prix in hot and humid conditions, the importance of hydration was the next focus of the conversation. I began by asking Albon how he and the drivers stay hydrated before, during, and after a race.
“Managing my hydration is essential! Throughout race weekend, I’m constantly staying on top of my overall energy levels since it’s so key to performing at the highest level,” began Albon. “As a driver, we’re frequently reminded to take fluids on board and keep hydrating at all times, and Liquid I.V. plays a big role in making hydration easier for me with three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink.
“In hotter race destinations like Miami, we lose quite a bit of water weight through sweat. Fortunately, working with Liquid I.V. has allowed me to rehydrate and recover quicker so I can perform at my best.”
Albon credited a partner in Liquid I.V. for maintaining his hydration not just on race day, but throughout the week.
“What’s great about Liquid I.V. is that it’s not only important during race weekends, but also in my day-to-day life,” added Albon. “I’m a big believer in the importance of hydration for my overall well-being, and Liquid I.V. is breaking barriers in the hydration space. It’s making it easier for me to stay focused and ready for whatever comes my way that day – it’s no surprise why Liquid I.V. is the #1 Powdered Hydration Brand in America.”
Similar to my discussion with Clark last fall, Albon stressed how critical hydration and nutrition are for F1 drivers. With the schedule taking the grid across the globe, and portions of the calendar including triple-headers such as the upcoming stretch that will take the grid from Imola, to Monaco, and finally to Barcelona, staying healthy is essential.
When you add in everything that happens to the drivers inside the cars on race day, it becomes critical.
“It’s incredibly important,” said Albon when I asked about the importance of hydration and nutrition. “When you combine the demanding schedule of travel, high temperatures, our multiple layers of fireproof clothing and a heavy crash helmet, and the various other elements of being a driver, staying on top of proper hydration and nutrition plays a huge part in overall success.
“Drivers can lose four to five pounds in sweat during a normal race – sometimes even more at the hotter and more physical races, and managing my hydration before, during, and after a race is one of the most important elements to having a successful performance. I’m fortunate to work alongside a brand like Liquid I.V. to help make that a seamless experience,” added the Atlassian Williams Racing driver.
Looking ahead
It was time to look ahead to the rest of the 2025 campaign, with an eye towards 2026 and the incoming set of technical regulations. The F1 schedule included a week between the Miami Grand Prix and the upcoming triple-header, which begins this week with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
But if you think Albon and the rest of the drivers had a week off last week, you are certainly mistaken.
“A week off? Between races, we have simulator days back at the team’s factory, fitness training camps and sponsor marketing days – I cannot remember the last time we had a week off!” started Albon when asked about the upcoming triple-header.
If Albon and Atlassian Williams Racing are going to have success over the next three weeks, the entire team needs to “hit their marks” out of the gate.
“Triple header races are demanding, everyone needs to be ready to hit their marks and get going from the off – that goes for us drivers, the engineers, the mechanics, the pit crews, everyone,” added Albon. “It’s great to be back racing in Europe, the start of this leg of the season is always nice, the fans are so passionate and knowledgeable. Hopefully we can put on a show and deliver some great results!”
Included in this stretch is the Monaco Grand Prix, the crown jewel of the F1 calendar. However, the race itself has become something of a lackluster affair in recent years, with overtaking nearly impossible on race day. Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix is a prime example of this phenomenon. An opening-lap crash brought out a red flag, and brought the entire grid back to pit lane shortly after the start. The drivers remaining in the field bolted on hard tires during the red flag, and went the rest of the way without a need for pit stops.
That meant Oscar Piastri, who finished second, saw nothing but the rear wing of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari over the laps that followed until the checkered flag.
Ahead of this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, the sport’s governing body is instituting a rule change, requiring two pit stops rather than one. I asked Albon if he thought that might improve the racing, but the driver expressed some skepticism.
“The cars are getting bigger but the circuit stays the same, so I think overtaking will always be tricky until the regulations change,” detailed Albon.
Speaking with the media after the Miami Grand Prix, Albon stressed that the team’s goal was to hold onto fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. I asked Albon if the team was on track to meet that goal.
“It’s a very long season and there’s a way to go yet,” added Albon. “Our focus will turn towards the new 2026 regulations which means you stop developing this year’s car, which in turn makes it difficult to keep up with your competitors, assuming of course they haven’t switched their attention to next year yet already.”
The circuit in Miami seemed to suit the team’s challenger, as both Albon and Sainz indicated when speaking with the media throughout the week. Asked if other circuits on the schedule might suit the FW47, Albon kept his cards close to his chest.
“You just never know,” said Albon. “At times you think we’re going to be quicker and our competitors are ahead, whereas other tracks we think we’re going to be poor and we’re strong. So we’re taking it race by race, and focusing on what’s in front of us.”
As for his and the team’s goals throughout the rest of 2025 and into 2026 when the new regulations arrive?
Reaching the pinnacle of the sport is what they have in mind.
“To go forwards, to keep improving, progressing and scoring as many points as possible,” said Albon when asked about the goals for 2025 and into 2026.
“Our ambitions are to get this team back to the top, and we’re giving everything possible to get us there.”