Williams had its best season since 2017 during Team Principal James Vowles’ first year in charge last term, scoring 28 points to finish seventh in the Constructors’ standings.
That performance was largely due to a peaky car that was proficient at low-drag circuits and Alex Albon firing on all cylinders.
2024 hasn’t shown the step up that 2023 promised with the Grove-based outfit scoring just four points in the opening 14 rounds of the season.
Williams entered the campaign on the back foot with a tumultuous pre-season that saw it rush to get its car ready in time.
A lack of a spare chassis forced the team to enter just one car into the Australian GP after Albon crashed in practice, only to be handed Logan Sargeant’s car to complete the race.
Williams has sought to remove the peaky traits of last year’s car, and it has succeeded in doing so, but that has come at a cost in the form of weight.
The FW46 continued to be overweight at Spa and no doubt if Williams can put it on a successful diet, more points will come.
However, Williams is a team that is taking one step back to move several more forward.
Vowles has been on a recruiting frenzy and practically 300 have elected to join the Williams cause and in 2025 they will have Carlos Sainz to lead them forward.
There are definitive signs of progress and the foundations are being well-forged for the Williams revival.
Vowles is perfectly happy to make sacrifices in the present for long-term gain and his heart is set on making a decent run of things in 2026 when new regulations could shake up the competitive order.
Expect a drive to reduce the weight of its current challenger having a bearing on whether Williams can pick up more points at Zandvoort and beyond, but rest assured this team is playing the long game.
Vowles summed it up well at Spa-Francorchamps when he told select media including Motorsport Week that “I think we’re in a situation where there’s no doubt about it we’ve underperformed in this first part of the season.
“We’re in a situation where I think we’ve gone well with the chassis technology and what we’re doing here. You can’t unlearn what you’ve done. You can’t change what you’ve done.
“The car’s a lot lighter than it has been. But we have to recognise as well that the competition is fierce this year and that with just a few points to our name, that’s not a good reflection of where we would like to be.
“As strange as this sounds, I’m not worried about it. I’m not worried about it because I’ve said from the beginning, I said last year as well, everything we are doing is investing in ‘26 and beyond.”
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