Carlos Sainz makes it clear that Williams cannot be satisfied with its current performance—measured against its goals, the gap is far too wide
After a completely disastrous start to the 2026 season, Williams has at least managed to get back on track somewhat in Formula 1. In Miami, Canada, and Monaco, the storied team scored points three times in a row and currently sits in 8th place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Carlos Sainz nevertheless makes it clear that no one in Grove can be satisfied with this. “That’s not what we set out to do this year,” the Spaniard emphasizes. After all, Williams had repeatedly described 2026 as a major opportunity due to the completely new regulations.
An eighth-place finish in the World Championship is therefore “not what we should be achieving, considering how much time we spent in the wind tunnel and how many hours of development went into this car,” Sainz says unequivocally.
In 2025, Williams had halted further development of the car early on in order to focus entirely on the new car for 2026. The team finished the World Championship in 5th place that year, and Sainz even secured two podium finishes for the team over the course of the season.
Sainz: Upcoming tracks don’t suit Williams
This made it all the more disappointing that Williams subsequently had a difficult winter. The FW48 remains significantly too heavy to this day, and the team had to skip the preseason shakedown in Barcelona, which meant they started the new Formula 1 era at a disadvantage.
Although the team has recently scored points on several occasions, Sainz makes it clear that this was more of a one-off. A major leap forward shouldn’t be expected until “the final third of the season,” explains the former Ferrari driver.
