Williams have dropped to ninth in the 2026 Formula 1 constructors’ standings after being overtaken by Audi at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the team’s latest FW48 upgrades failing to produce the performance gains it had hoped for.
This is certainly not where the British team expected to find itself heading into a season that had been viewed as an opportunity to begin a journey back towards consistently fighting at the front of the field. Instead, Williams’ current position is very different from those ambitious expectations.
Following Audi’s move ahead after the race in Budapest, Williams now sit ninth in the Formula 1 constructors’ standings, ahead only of Aston Martin and Cadillac.
Williams FW48 appears to be Formula 1’s tenth-fastest car
Aston Martin’s significant step forward in Hungary has further undermined the few remaining certainties within Williams. The Grove-based team have now failed to score points since the Monaco Grand Prix on 7 May, extending a difficult run that has exposed the FW48’s lack of competitiveness.
The progress made by Lawrence Stroll’s team should, however, provide motivation for James Vowles and Williams. Aston Martin demonstrated how quickly the competitive order can change when a development package works as intended, while the updates introduced by Williams have so far delivered few noticeable benefits.
Indeed, the team’s development programme appears to have produced the opposite effect, with Williams losing ground as several direct rivals improve. Audi’s Hungarian Grand Prix result was enough to move the German manufacturer ahead, with Nico Hülkenberg’s first points of the season helping Audi overtake Williams.
Williams still have time to recover in the midfield battle
Despite the negative trend, Williams’ season is not yet beyond repair. Seventh-placed Haas, another team experiencing a difficult period, remain only 10 points ahead, leaving the midfield positions within reach.
That gap is particularly significant because the current generation of Formula 1 cars remains at an early stage of development. A successful upgrade package can produce a substantial improvement in performance and dramatically reshape the midfield hierarchy over the course of only a few races.
Aston Martin’s recent progress with the AMR26B offers a clear example. Fernando Alonso has backed the revised car as the team searches for further gains, highlighting how quickly a struggling project can begin moving in the right direction when upgrades work effectively.
Williams must now find a similar breakthrough. Unless the FW48 development programme begins delivering tangible progress, the team risks becoming increasingly detached from the midfield battle during the second half of the 2026 season.
The complete 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix classification underlined the scale of Williams’ difficulties, but the small points gap to Haas means there is still an opportunity to reverse the decline.
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