Ahead of the US Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz revealed that Williams are making significant and “quite uncomfortable” changes in preparation for the 2027 F1 season.
With the 2026 season having been painful so far for the Williams team, Carlos Sainz insists that implementing “quite uncomfortable” changes now will build stronger momentum for the 2027 F1 season. The FW48 has been a real challenge for Williams.
While the Grove-based team made superb progress in recent seasons, the car has not proved strong under the new regulations. Both Sainz and teammate Alex Albon have spent the season fighting the car and suffering from technical failures. The disappointment has left the team with an accumulation of only 12 points this year.
Ahead of the US GP, Sainz was asked whether the FW48 is strong enough to fight for points. The Spaniard reflected on the topic, revealing that in races, even reaching the “top 14 is very difficult”.
“No, it’s not,” Sainz admitted. “It is a car that is good enough to get into Q2 with a very good lap in Q1, and race from there. And if the others make mistakes and they get things very wrong, then maybe you can get a point like we got in Baku.
“But the reality is that our position is not to score points. The lightweight chassis has worked and is giving us the opportunity to get into Q2 three consecutive times since Baku, but as soon as the race settles and everyone gets into their pace, it’s, right now, I don’t think better, in a normal race, than top 15. Top 14 is very difficult.”
Sainz admits the target for Williams is 2027
As the year has been slow for Williams, with their first Q3 appearance coming in Baku, the team has chosen to focus on next season. While many hoped for a strong year for the team, 2026 has been the opposite.
“Yeah, I think it’s exactly that,” Sainz responded when asked whether the last races of the year focus on building the foundation for 2027.
“We’re going through some massive changes inside the team, and we are investing these last nine races of the year to challenge ourselves to change things in the middle of a Formula 1 season which you would never wait until the break to change them [sic],” Sainz said.
“But now the team has taken that direction. Clear leadership by the top management to say, even if we are in the middle of the season, just change everything, change what needs to be changed. It’s quite uncomfortable because we’re changing things that even on the middle of an F1 weekend, you feel like you’re leaving lap time on the table, or that you’re doing too many things.
“But it’s with a target or with an intention of getting things out of the way with a car that we know is very difficult to score points with, and making sure we hit the ground running next year.”
The team sits ninth in the Constructors’ Championship and hopes that next year will be significantly better.
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