Williams FW45: The 2023 Car Built for Straight-Line Speed

The Williams FW45 was the team's Formula One car for the 2023 world championship, and it was shown to the public on 6 February 2023. Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon drove it, with Albon carrying the team's results for most of the year. The car finished the season seventh in the constructors' standings with 28 points.

What was the Williams FW45?

The FW45 was a Formula One racing car designed and built by Williams for the 2023 championship. It was first revealed on 6 February 2023, and it was among the first Mercedes-AMG powered cars to run fuel and lubricants from a supplier other than Petronas. That change had not been seen in the sport since 2016, and it was shared with the Aston Martin AMR23.

The car was noted for its straight-line speed. Rivals fitted with DRS often could not get past the FW45 on the straights, and that quality shaped many of the team's defensive battles.

A car built for straight-line speed kept Williams ahead of its rivals and turned Albon into the team's most reliable scorer.

Who drove the FW45?

Logan Sargeant was in his first year with Williams, while Alexander Albon was in his second. The two drivers had very different seasons, and the gap between them was often visible in qualifying.

Albon was widely seen as central to Williams' year. Fans praised the way he rebuilt his career after struggles at Red Bull. Sargeant had a harder rookie season, and he spent much of it under heavy pressure.

How did the first ten races go?

After ten rounds Williams sat eighth in the constructors' standings on 11 points, tied with Haas on points but trailing on the countback tiebreak. Albon sat 13th in the standings on 11 points, while Sargeant, still scoreless, was 19th.

The season opened in Bahrain, where Albon qualified 15th and Sargeant 16th, and Sargeant was knocked out in Q1. Sargeant climbed four places at the start to finish 12th, while Albon made a clever strategy work to finish 10th. That point, scored by holding off Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, was the team's first of 2023 and left Williams sixth with one point.

Jeddah went badly. Sargeant could not post a qualifying time because his first lap was deleted, and he was allowed to race only after the stewards agreed. Albon retired on lap 28 with brake failure, and Sargeant's tyres faded, and he dropped to 16th by the finish.

Australia was a chaotic afternoon. Albon qualified 8th and ran sixth early on before a heavy crash on lap 7 brought out the red flag. Sargeant then ran outside the points for most of the race, and at the restart he collided with Nyck de Vries at turn 1, ending both races. The team dropped to last in the standings, six points behind Haas.

What happened in Miami, Monaco and Spain?

Miami and Monaco were tough rounds. At the Miami Grand Prix Albon's qualifying effort was 11th, while Sargeant lined up 20th, last, at the first of his three home races. Albon finished 14th, while Sargeant came home 20th and one lap down.

At Monaco Sargeant was hit by Nico Hulkenberg at Mirabeau on lap 1, which damaged his car and ended his points hopes. He finished 18th, two laps down. Albon qualified 13th and finished 14th, also one lap down.

Spain was a disaster in qualifying, with Albon 18th and Sargeant 20th. The race brought little relief, as Sargeant finished 20th and Albon 16th.

How did Austria and Silverstone go?

Austria and Silverstone gave Williams a steadier spell. Albon finished 11th in Austria and 8th at his home race, while the team's wider battle with Haas stayed close throughout.

In Austria Albon qualified 10th and Sargeant 18th. In the sprint Albon qualified 11th and finished 13th, while Sargeant was 18th after starting 20th. Albon finished the main race 11th and Sargeant 13th. Nico Hulkenberg's sixth place in the Haas sprint kept Williams four points behind its rival in the fight for seventh.

At Silverstone, a home race for the team, Albon qualified 8th and Sargeant 14th. Albon overtook the two Ferraris late in the race to finish 8th, while Sargeant narrowly missed his first points with 11th.

How did the middle of the season change the picture?

The middle of the year brought a steady climb. Canada was the turning point for Albon, who qualified 10th, was fastest in Q2 and then finished 7th on hard tyres. That result was the team's first points since Bahrain, and Albon received the driver of the day award for the performance.

The Canadian result moved Williams from 10th to ninth in the standings with 7 points. By Silverstone Albon had overtaken two Ferraris late on to finish eighth, and Sargeant had come close to his first points but finished 11th.

The summer break found Williams eighth, still level with Haas on countback. The Dutch round offered a bright spot in qualifying. Both cars reached Q3 at Zandvoort, the first double Q3 appearance of 2023, although Sargeant crashed at the start of that session and started 10th.

In the race Albon finished eighth and scored more points for the team, while Sargeant crashed out on lap 16 with a hydraulic failure. The result pushed Williams up to seventh, four points ahead of Haas.

Monza repeated the pattern. Albon qualified sixth and finished seventh, defending against much faster cars, including the McLarens. Sargeant was penalised after colliding with Valtteri Bottas and finished 13th. The result gave Williams a ten-point advantage over Haas in the fight for seventh, which handed the team control of that battle.

What happened in Singapore and Japan?

Singapore was a mixed round. Sargeant hit the wall on lap 20, damaging his front wing and ending his points chance, but he kept Fernando Alonso behind to take 14th. Albon was in the top ten until Sergio Perez damaged his car late on, which cost him a possible tenth place. He came home 12th. Albon was furious afterwards and called Perez desperate and dirty.

Japan was a disaster. Sargeant crashed in qualifying and needed the stewards' consent to run. The team rebuilt his chassis with parts that did not come from the original car, so it was treated as a third car, and he started from the pit lane and served a ten second penalty at his first pit stop. He later collided with Bottas and retired.

Albon had qualified 13th, but he was pushed by Bottas on the grass before turn 1 and his car flipped onto two wheels before landing heavily. He pitted at the start of lap 1 and retired, which ended a very disappointing race for the team. Williams left Japan seventh with 21 points, and Albon had scored every one of them.

What did the late-season American rounds bring?

Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Las Vegas brought mixed results. Albon finished 9th in Mexico City after a red flag, but AlphaTauri gained ground, and Sao Paulo ended with a collision that removed Albon from the race.

In Mexico Sargeant failed to post a lap in qualifying, so he needed the stewards' approval to start. He retired late with a fuel pump failure. Albon benefited from the red flag that followed Kevin Magnussen's heavy crash, restarted inside the top ten and stayed there.

AlphaTauri scored big points through Daniel Ricciardo, so Williams' seventh place was not yet secure. The gap closed a little more in Sao Paulo, where Albon got a strong start but sandwiched Hulkenberg between himself and Magnussen. Albon's car hit Hulkenberg's right front tyre, spun Hulkenberg into Magnussen, and both cars hit the barrier at turn 1 and brought out the red flag. Sargeant fought hard for points and finished 11th, leaving AlphaTauri seven points behind with two races to go.

At the first Las Vegas Grand Prix both cars reached Q3, Albon in 6th and Sargeant in 7th. The race went the other way, with Albon coming home 12th and Sargeant 16th, but AlphaTauri failed to score and the gap stayed at seven points going into the finale.

How did Sargeant's rookie season unfold?

Sargeant's first year was defined by pressure and mistakes. He failed to score in his first season until the closing rounds, and he had repeated crashes between Zandvoort and Japan that hurt the team's development as well as his own confidence.

There were reports that Sargeant might be replaced, with Mick Schumacher and Frederik Vesti linked to the seat. The rookie answered those reports in Austin, where he finished 10th after Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified for plank wear. The finish brought him his maiden point, and made him the first American driver to score since Michael Andretti in 1993 at Italy's Grand Prix.

From Qatar to Abu Dhabi Sargeant had fewer crashes, and the improvement helped convince the team that it could rely on him. The result was a contract extension for 2024, a vote of confidence after a season in which the team had questioned his place in the line-up.

Why was Albon so good at defending?

Albon's defensive driving was one of the defining features of the FW45's season, and it became one of the car's most talked-about qualities. The car's straight-line speed gave him a platform, and he used it to hold off faster cars that might have passed easily elsewhere.

In Canada he defended on 49-lap old tyres, keeping a string of faster cars behind him to finish seventh. At Monza he held off drivers in much faster McLarens to take seventh, and in the process he helped the team take control of the midfield battle with Haas.

How did the 2023 season finish?

Williams finished 2023 seventh in the constructors' championship with 28 points, a gain of three places on 2022. Albon finished 13th in the drivers' standings with 27 points, while Sargeant ended 21st with a single point.

Albon's form also had a statistical edge. He outqualified his team-mate at every race of the season, a feat last managed by Max Verstappen in 2020. Even at the Abu Dhabi finale, Albon finished 14th while Sargeant started last for track limits and finished 16th.

Tsunoda led for three laps at Abu Dhabi but could not finish high enough to pass Williams in the standings, and AlphaTauri finished eighth. That made the late-season form the team's strongest case for the car, built on a mix of straight-line speed and defensive driving.

Those numbers describe a car that was quick where it counted for overtaking and a team that found its best form in the second half of the year. The points came from a mix of Albon's consistency and the car's pace on the straights.