Williams has emerged as one of the biggest disappointments of the 2026 Formula 1 season alongside Aston Martin, with repeated FW48 upgrades failing to produce the step forward expected from James Vowles’ rebuilding project. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon have collected only 11 points between them, leaving the Grove team ninth in the Constructors’ Championship despite entering the new regulatory era with significantly higher ambitions.
Expectations had grown steadily over recent seasons as Williams showed encouraging progress under James Vowles. That trajectory was convincing enough for Carlos Sainz to commit his future to the team, with the Spaniard embracing the challenge of helping one of Formula 1’s most successful historic names return to regular contention for major results.
Williams expected more from its 2026 Formula 1 project
The presence of the Mercedes power unit only strengthened the expectation that Williams could take another step forward under the new regulations. Instead, the FW48 has struggled to move the team up the competitive order, and Williams currently sits ninth in the 2026 Formula 1 Constructors’ standings, even behind Audi in its first season under its new works identity.
Audi has 12 points compared with Williams’ 11, while Haas is further ahead on 21. The position is particularly disappointing given the upward trajectory Williams had established before the technical reset and the experience available from its driver pairing.
The problem does not appear to be a shortage of upgrades. If anything, the quantity of new components introduced throughout the season suggests that Williams has been actively trying to address the FW48’s weaknesses. The bigger difficulty appears to lie in understanding and maximising the overall package available to Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
Williams FW48 upgrades started immediately in Australia and Japan
The first developments arrived as early as Australia and Japan, although neither package provided enough performance to establish Williams consistently inside the top 10.
The most convincing progress came during the period from Miami through Monaco. That stretch accounted for a significant proportion of the 11 points Williams has scored so far across China, Miami, Canada and Monaco.
Carlos Sainz has contributed six points in total. After finishing ninth in China, he repeated that result in Miami and Canada, earning two points on each occasion. Alex Albon has scored five points, taking 10th in Miami before producing Williams’ best finish of the season so far with eighth place in Monaco.
Those results briefly suggested that Williams had identified a productive development direction. Miami was especially encouraging, with both cars finishing in the points and showing that the team could compete around the lower reaches of the top 10 when the FW48 operated in the right performance window.
Williams progress stalled as rivals continued developing
The problem came afterwards. While rival teams continued extracting more performance from their new-generation cars, Williams appeared to reach a plateau.
Further upgrades arrived across Barcelona-Catalunya, Great Britain, Belgium and Hungary, but the competitive gains were limited. At the Hungaroring the situation became particularly difficult, with Alex Albon qualifying 19th and Carlos Sainz 18th before the pair finished 17th and 18th respectively in the race.
That weekend reinforced the feeling that adding individual components is not enough if the team cannot fully understand how they interact with the rest of the FW48. Williams now faces the task of identifying whether its limitations come from specific aerodynamic characteristics, the way the car operates across different circuits or more fundamental aspects of the overall concept.
The team is preparing another development step for Azerbaijan, although Williams has already acknowledged that the planned Baku upgrade will not solve every FW48 weakness.
Miami to Monaco provided Williams’ best period of 2026
The most encouraging phase of Williams’ season came across May and early June, when both drivers were able to turn improved performance into points.
Carlos Sainz earned four points from ninth-place finishes in Miami and Canada during that period, while Alex Albon added five through 10th in Miami and eighth in Monaco. For a team struggling to establish itself inside the points-paying positions, those weekends represented a respectable return.
What Williams has lacked is consistency. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon sit 15th and 16th respectively in the Drivers’ Championship, separated by just one point, illustrating how difficult it has been for either driver to string together a sustained run of competitive results.
The experience of the two drivers should nevertheless remain one of Williams’ strongest assets. Carlos Sainz has won four Grands Prix during his Formula 1 career, while Alex Albon has spent several seasons helping Williams understand the strengths and weaknesses of its machinery. Their combined feedback will be crucial as the development programme continues.
Williams still has major ambitions beyond 2026
Williams unquestionably retains significant long-term ambitions, although defining a realistic target in such a competitive field is difficult. The objective must eventually be to return to the fight for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship and establish itself at the head of the midfield.
At present, that goal remains some distance away. However, the progress achieved under James Vowles before the 2026 reset showed that the organisation can move in the right direction when its technical programme delivers.
For the immediate future, the challenge is understanding why the extensive FW48 development work has not produced a corresponding improvement in results. Williams has continued updating the car; now it needs those changes to work together as an effective package rather than simply representing a succession of new parts.
Williams can still fight Audi and Haas in the 2026 standings
The outlook for the remainder of this season is less complicated. Williams is only one point behind Audi, meaning eighth place remains immediately within reach, while Haas is 10 points further ahead.
Haas built much of its advantage through its strong result in China, but the performance margins between Haas, Audi and Williams remain small enough for the order to change during the second half of the year.
Beating both rivals will not be easy, particularly if Williams cannot regain the momentum it briefly showed around Miami and Monaco. James Vowles can, however, rely on two highly experienced drivers in Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, which could become an important advantage when opportunities for points arise.
The FW48 has received plenty of updates. The crucial question for the remainder of 2026 is whether Williams can finally unlock their potential and turn development into consistent performance. If it can, eighth place is an immediate target and Haas could yet be brought into range. If not, a season that began with considerable optimism risks ending as one of the most frustrating chapters of the James Vowles rebuilding project.
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