Williams FW47 updates show progress, but fundamental issues demand new design philosophy. Williams’ FW47 showed improvements with the Belgian updates.

Williams already looking toward 2026

Williams has been focused on the 2026 season for some time, a target Team Principal James Vowles has had in mind since his arrival at Grove. However, this long-term planning has not prevented the British team from developing the FW47 for the 2025 season. In Belgium, the team introduced a significant package of updates, which produced a car that drivers described as more challenging to handle but also more competitive. Despite these improvements, the lack of competitiveness in Hungary demonstrated that the team still has a long way to go to fully resolve the underlying conceptual issues.

The updates

The Belgian upgrade package involved both the upper and lower parts of the car. The floor was completely revised, including modifications to the flow channels at the Venturi inlets and along the outer edges. While the visible changes are subtle, the era of ground-effect Formula 1 cars has shown that small alterations can have significant aerodynamic consequences that are not immediately obvious from the outside. Additionally, the side radiator intakes were slightly elongated downward near the chassis, requiring corresponding changes to the rear bodywork.

These updates were not aimed at addressing the reliability issues that plagued the team earlier in the summer, which originated from certain mechanical components produced in-house by Williams, rather than airflow or cooling inefficiencies. Solutions for these issues are expected after the summer break.

The results in Spa rewarded the technical team’s efforts, with Carlos Sainz finishing sixth in the Sprint race and Alex Albon also scoring sixth on Sunday. The updates increased aerodynamic downforce, though they came with some trade-offs in drivability, as Sainz noted: “I think they went in the right direction; they give us more performance. In some areas, it’s a more difficult car to drive, but undoubtedly, when you manage to put everything together, it feels like a step forward.”

A conceptual problem

At Spa, drivers remained cautious, aware that the Belgian circuit historically suits Williams. The following race in Hungary confirmed their concerns, with the team failing to score points. The upgrades alone were insufficient to fix the conceptual issues Williams has faced for years.

“Obviously, there’s nothing we can do for this year, but hopefully it will be educational for the team, learning for the future how to develop a car that is competitive on tracks like Budapest and Barcelona,” Sainz explained.

“We have poor aerodynamic characteristics in long corners, where you need to maintain consistent downforce from the entry to the mid-corner. That’s where we struggle. This has been a long-standing problem, and it explains why we perform well on long straights and sharp corners. Currently, when we face long, complex corners, like those in Barcelona, Budapest, or Qatar, the car struggles. A profound change in design philosophy is needed for the future. We are trying to understand what and how to change to ensure that next year’s car is more complete and gives us a better platform that works across different tracks,” concluded the Spanish driver.