Williams made a small comeback in 2023, with James Vowles leading the Grove operation from the bottom of the F1 standings to seventh in his first season as team principal. It’s fair to say that 2024 has been more challenging so far, including a chassis defect that dramatically forced one of their cars to miss a race. Here’s the famous team’s half-year report…

Best result

Alex Albon – ninth in Monaco and Great Britain

Going back a year, Williams had collected a very respectable 21 points after 14 rounds of the 2023 season, including outstanding seventh places in Canada – where a number of particularly useful updates were introduced – and Italy.

READ MORE: “I’m really excited about what’s coming” – Vowles on signing Sainz, revamping his technical team and his long-term plans for Williams

But the team has only four points to its name at the same point in 2024, with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin often occupying the points positions and leaving little room for maneuver in the midfield.

However, when opportunities arose, Alex Albon was there to take them, underlined by P9 finishes in Monaco – where he did 90% of his job by securing qualifying – and on home soil in the UK during a weekend of difficult, changeable weather conditions.

Albon is the only Williams driver to finish in the top 10 on race day this season, taking 31 of the team’s 32 points since joining forces with Logan Sargeant, who will lose his place next year to outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.