Presentation of the FW47: the hopes of Atlassian Williams Racing
In the presence of the team's two drivers, Atlassian Williams Racing unveiled its FW47. Carlos Sainz was the first to try the 2025 single-seater, while James Volwes outlined the goals for the year and beyond. Recap of the event broadcast by the F1 team.
This morning at Silverstone, in a visibly cold but enthusiastic atmosphere in a large hangar, Steve Jones hosted the presentation of the FW47 alongside Jenson Button and Naomi Schiff.
The pilots
Sainz and Albon naturally joined Steve Jones on stage, both protected by a hat and gloves. A brief exchange took place, including a small quiz to test the two drivers’ knowledge of their teammate. But Sainz quickly slipped away to go test the single-seater.
The car
Steve Jones reminds us that the race livery will only be revealed on Tuesday. However, this is a significant moment for the team, as Jensen Button notes, it’s probably the first time this car is fully assembled. And indeed, chief mechanic Ben Howard explained that they received the chassis last Friday at 5 PM: a week to fully assemble the car. As the team prepares the car, Jensen Button recalls that the car is an evolution of the 2024 season car. The engineers’ and mechanics’ efforts have focused on downforce: Maximum downforce levels are always exciting to see in terms of numbers, but it’s the usable downforce that really matters. It’s about cornering downforce, lateral grip at the corner entry, which gives the drivers a lot of confidence. These are the aspects they’ve been working on, and today is the day we find out if it works.
As Carlos Sainz leaves the garage, the journalist falls silent, before stating a few seconds later: « You don’t want to hear my voice, you want to hear that thing coming out of the garage ». This is followed by two laps and a few radio exchanges before returning to the garage, without any issues. As soon as his helmet is off and he’s put on his beanie, Carlos Sainz is interviewed. He explains that he cannot say how fast the car is, not with rain tires on a dry track. « But I can tell you that everything went well, which is good news. » He adds that « a newly born car is always a bit tricky. »
Then Carlos can finally go back to the engineers: he already has several things to tell them.
Williams’ Hopes
Williams of course highlighted its new partnership with Atlassian, emphasizing the historical nature of this association. A video was launched featuring a short speech by Atlassian’s director, Mike Cannon-Brookes, where he explained that Atlassian started with $10,000 and a credit card, drawing parallels between his company’s story and that of the team: « We know what it’s like to be the outsider », he stated.
James Volwes, team director, says he is very proud of the work accomplished, but he reminds that what you don’t know is how good the winter was for others.
He does not rule out the presence of a Williams driver on the podium during the season, noting that, during a normal race weekend, it will be unlikely, but certain circumstances will play in our favor.
In the long term, he explained that the goal of Atlassian Williams Racing is to return to the forefront of the competition in 2026, 2027, 2028, as the changes underway are significant and cannot be completed this year. « What I want to ensure is not to favor a small short-term gain at the expense of the long term. We are here to make sure we return to competing for championships, and to achieve this, it will take a bit more time. »
