Williams' 2026 Season: From High Hopes to Frustration
After taking a huge step forward in 2025 to finish fifth in the Teams' Championship, expectations were high for Williams heading into the 2026 Formula 1 season. However, those hopes took a hit before the team had even officially started racing.
Williams missed the pre-season Barcelona Shakedown, and once the racing action began, they were plagued by an overweight car and various technical issues. As a result, the team have collected just 11 points heading into the summer break and are now looking for urgent improvements. Here's a closer look at Williams' 2026 F1 season so far.
Best Finish: Albon Takes P8 in Monaco
Alex Albon's eighth-place finish in Monaco remains Williams' best result of the season. However, even that weekend came with frustration after Carlos Sainz was hit twice during a late red-flag restart, forcing him to retire and denying Williams a potentially crucial double-points finish.
Albon was also frustrated by the team orders that saw him let Sainz through before backing up the field to help his team-mate with a pit stop, only for Sainz to retire. "I gave up a position to Arvid Lindblad and I thought at that point we've done all of that for nothing and I was frustrated at the time because I thought it was a silly way to give away an obvious points position," Albon said.
Despite the disappointment, Albon was pleased with his own result, calling P8 a great result and possibly his best weekend of the season. Williams have recorded just one double-points finish in 2026, coming in Miami, where Sainz finished ninth and Albon 10th.
Qualifying Head-to-Head: Sainz Dominates
There has been little to celebrate during Williams' difficult campaign, but Carlos Sainz can take some encouragement from his qualifying advantage over Albon. Sainz currently leads the qualifying head-to-head 9-2. Neither driver has reached Q3 in qualifying this season, although Sainz managed P10 in Sprint Qualifying in Canada.
Sainz also leads the Grand Prix head-to-head, although the margin is much closer at 6-5. Those figures also represent the points scored by each driver, making up Williams' 11-point total. Sainz has recorded three ninth-place finishes, while Albon has a P8 and a P10 to his name.
Both drivers scored points in Miami after Williams introduced an upgrade, but it remains the only race this season where the team has managed two top-10 finishes.
Best Moment: Miami Double Points
There haven't been many contenders for Williams' best moment of 2026, but the Miami double-points finish stands out. Sainz finished P9, with Albon immediately behind in P10 after climbing five places from his P15 qualifying position. The result appeared to signal a potential turnaround for Williams' disappointing start.
However, both drivers remained cautious, with Sainz saying the team had set itself "higher expectations", while Albon stressed the need to maintain that level of performance in future races. Williams also scored points in Canada and Monaco, but have failed to add to their tally in the last five Grands Prix.
Worst Moment: A Troubled Start to 2026
Williams' difficult season effectively began when they missed the Barcelona Shakedown. Although the team managed to recover some of the lost track time, the setback highlighted that they were behind where they needed — or wanted — to be.
Team Principal James Vowles later explained how difficult the winter had been for the Grove-based team, with problems during car production coming as a major surprise. "You get exposed in these large regulation changes," Vowles said. "We need a team and system support structure, processes, hardware, around us that when the game changes, like a regulation set, we don't fall back."
The problems continued once racing began, with the FW48 overweight during the opening races. The Japanese Grand Prix was even treated as a test session, with Albon making five consecutive pit stops to experiment with different setups.
What Comes Next for Williams?
The biggest question is whether Williams can recover after the summer shutdown. Things appeared to move backwards before the break in Hungary. Both drivers were eliminated in Q1, Williams were beaten by one of the upgraded Aston Martins, and they were only faster than F1 newcomers Cadillac.
At the Hungaroring, Sainz admitted that his decision over whether to remain with Williams would "depend on how quickly we manage to bounce back", while also pointing to the team's investment and its clear vision.
Albon, meanwhile, celebrated his 100th Grand Prix with Williams in Budapest. But with results failing to improve, questions remain over how long that loyalty can last. Vowles remains convinced that the team's efforts will eventually pay off, insisting that both drivers "want to invest to make it a better team and a faster team."
Williams' 2027 Focus Begins
Williams are expected to introduce an upgrade, including a new chassis, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in late September. However, the team appears to be gradually shifting its focus towards 2027. Vowles confirmed that plenty of changes are already being worked on for next year, while acknowledging that some aspects of the 2026 car may not reach the level of completeness he wants.
For the remainder of this season, the priority is to identify and fix the car's "really nasty handling characteristics" and establish the right platform for the future. Performance should follow, but for Williams, the immediate objective is simpler: get the basics right and build a stronger foundation for 2027.
