– Carlos Sainz doubts that Williams can make up the one-second deficit with the future B-spec Formula 1 car. However, it is precisely this second that the team lacks to compete for championship points on its own this season.
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In an episode of The Fast And The Curious podcast, the Spaniard gives a sobering assessment of the Grove-based team’s current performance and explains how much ground the team still needs to make up to compete in the midfield again.
Williams has had a difficult start to the 2026 season. After missing private testing in Barcelona at the end of January, the team already arrived at the official winter tests in Bahrain with a deficit. Equipped with an overweight car, Sainz and his teammate Alexander Albon have since been fighting for every single point they can get.
Upgrades are supposed to help, but …
After upgrades were introduced at the Miami Grand Prix, which contributed to a much-needed weight reduction, the team moved up to eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship with eleven points.
Photo gallery: The Williams Story
While team principal James Vowles has indicated that a major update package will be brought around the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which he hopes will enable Sainz and Albon to regularly compete for points, Sainz remains pragmatic about the team’s expected progress.
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“It is very difficult for us to score points. With the lack of performance we have, it is almost impossible to take points. So a lot has to change in the second half or the last third of the season for us to actually be able to fight for points on our own,” explains Sainz.
Points no guarantee
“That doesn’t mean we can’t score points in one race or another where a lot happens. But the reality is that we lack performance. And when the B-spec car comes, I don’t think it will give us a full second per lap – which we would need to be in the points fight.”
“To put it more precisely: Last year, when we were fifth in the championship, we were only four to five tenths behind McLaren, who won the championship. This year, we are two seconds behind Mercedes, which is worlds apart in Formula 1, and we are one second behind Racing Bulls.”
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“Unfortunately, very large gaps have opened up this year. If we want to correct them and get back on track, we need some very big changes – and for that, we probably need a winter to fix the difficulties we have.”
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