Günther Steiner sees Williams as a major disappointment of the 2026 Formula 1 season and believes that team principal James Vowles could be on thin ice
Günther Steiner believes that Williams team principal James Vowles could be on the chopping block if the team fails to make the desired progress and achieve the desired results in 2027 as well.
After taking over as team principal, Vowles had led Williams from the back of the field into the midfield and achieved its best final result since 2017 with a fifth-place finish in 2025. However, the Englishman had geared everything toward the new 2026 regulations, with the goal of working their way back toward the top. “And where are we? Nowhere,” says Steiner on the Starting Grid podcast.
The reality is quite different: Instead of securing the hoped-for podium finishes, Williams repeatedly fails to make it past the Q2 hurdle with both cars and can only manage to finish ahead of Cadillac and Aston Martin. The team has yet to achieve a single top-10 result in qualifying.
According to Steiner, however, the problems have persisted even within this season. He quotes Vowles somewhat flippantly: “‘Yeah, we’re a bit overweight, but we’ll fix that. I’ve already got all the emails on how I’m going to do it. The upgrades are coming to make things better.’—But instead of moving forward, we’re moving backward,” he criticizes.
The upgrades haven’t made an impact so far and haven’t moved Williams up the field. On the contrary: In the last three qualifying sessions, one car has consistently been eliminated in Q1, and one car has consistently retired from the race. Most recently, at the double-header in Spielberg and Silverstone, the team didn’t finish higher than 17th in either the Sprint or the race.
Can Williams still move up the field?
“They need to take a step forward,” says Steiner, though he’s unsure who Williams can even catch up to in terms of pace. The former Haas team principal doesn’t believe the team can catch Audi (which, incidentally, is actually trailing Williams in the World Championship): “Audi is making clear progress.”
“That’s why the only team they could still catch is Haas, but they’re also stalling a bit at the moment,” he says, seeing his former team as the only one within reach. However, Haas already has ten more points in the World Championship—and they’re already 48 points behind the Racing Bulls ahead of them.
Williams can thus practically write off the 2026 season as a disappointment and pin its hopes on 2027—but the team will have to deliver then, or things could get dicey for Vowles, Steiner believes: “If the car isn’t good next year, or if the car isn’t there next year as predicted for ’26, then I think James Vowles will also be on shaky ground.”
“You really have to manage expectations well and not say, ‘I’m doing everything right now, just give me a year or two,’” he emphasizes.
Will Williams lose Carlos Sainz?
And if Williams continues to fall short of expectations in 2027, the team also risks losing Carlos Sainz, whom Vowles lured to the team with big promises. The Spaniard is already being linked to Audi, where he would reunite with Mattia Binotto, an old ally from his Ferrari days.
“I know the family well. They always look at all their options,” says Steiner. “I think if there were an alternative for Carlos that was better than where he is now, he’d take it. But right now, that option just isn’t there for him.”
Audi’s lineup currently consists of Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. But according to the South Tyrolean, what isn’t there yet could still happen: “Back then at Ferrari, Mattia Binotto was the one who brought him in. And Mattia Binotto is now team principal at Audi. One plus one usually equals two, right?” he says. “The relationship is still good, and those kinds of relationships don’t just fade away.”
