Former Formula 1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya have laid into Williams as a rumored overweight FW48 gets called the “biggest flop” of the 2026 season.
The Grove-based team has endured a difficult start to the sport’s latest era.
Though Carlos Sainz scored the team’s first points of the 2026 campaign in China, the Spaniard’s P9 finish was aided by the fact that the 56-lap race at the Shanghai International Circuit was a race of attrition where seven cars failed to take the chequered flag.
Williams had earlier missed the first pre-season testing event – the private shakedown at Barcelona, in January – with rumors of struggling with a massively overweight car.
And while the team did quell those reports by insisting that they were only 4 Kgs above the 768 Kg minimum threshold, the team seems to be at least a second off the pace in terms of weight alone and the math certainly doesn’t add up.
Looking at the state of affairs at Williams, former driver Schumacher called them the “biggest flop” of the season so far.
“This long break is actually quite interesting,” he told Sky Deutschland’s podcast, Backstage Boxengasse.
“Of course, there are teams that are struggling right now – Williams, for one – and this presents a huge opportunity for them to make the most of the time.
“Aston Martin, too, and obviously Honda with the issues they’re facing. So these teams naturally have a huge opportunity.
“It sounds harsh, but I think it’s almost that simple to call Honda that. I’d say Williams is the biggest flop.”
Schumacher reckons the FW48 could be as much as 30kgs over the minimum weight limit.
“When you consider what sort of engine is in the back and what’s being made of it at the moment, I have to say that Williams, with a car that’s apparently almost 30kg too heavy, is a real flop,” he added.
Someone should get sacked at Williams – Juan Pablo Montoya
If these rumors are true, then, Williams have taken a big step backwards in terms of developing its package for F1’s latest era.
Montoya, who drove for the team between 2001 and 2004, has gone as far as suggesting that the engineers responsible should be relieved from their duties immediately.
“Personally someone should be held responsible for that,” he told AS Colombia.
“The people on that team and someone who held a position that obviously involved supervising that and making a mistake like that, should be responsible for it and should set a bit of an example for people.
“Not by threatening people, but people have to take responsibility for their work, if you know what I mean? If you’re the captain of, I don’t know, a cruise ship and you sink the ship, you’ll be sacked, if you know what I mean?
“If you’ve got a job to do and you mess it up, you’re out. And so I think that’s important.”
Williams are acutely aware of the situation they find themselves in.
Team Principal James Vowles has addressed the concerns regarding the FW48’s competitiveness, but it would be a mountain to climb in terms of rectifying it in the cost-cap era.
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