– Williams continues to work intensively on its announced B-version for the 2026 season. However, there is a new crucial detail: the new chassis is not only intended as an in-season update but will also serve as the technical basis for the 2027 season. Team principal James Vowles speaks of a deliberate transition into the next year.
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After the unsuccessful start to the 2026 season, Williams had already announced that a completely new chassis would be introduced during the year. The current FW48 fell short of expectations – the car was too heavy, completed late, and did not meet its own performance targets. Now Vowles explains that the project is conceived on a much larger scale than a pure performance upgrade.
“The most important project we are working on is the new chassis, which will come this year and will also be carried over into next year,” says Vowles. “It is practically a transition point.”
Not an ordinary upgrade, but a bridge to 2027
According to Vowles, the focus is not primarily on the chassis itself. Much more important is the way Williams develops and produces the car. “The challenge was innovation,” explains the team principal. The new chassis will be developed with a completely new approach – a method Williams has never used before.
The project aims to achieve several goals simultaneously: less weight, lower costs, and faster production processes. For Vowles, this is an example of how Williams continues to invest in the future despite the difficult sporting situation.
“It is a top-level project meant to show that we are pushing these innovation boundaries further, even though we are not where we want to be on the track.” Therefore, the B-version will still be used in the current season, but the real benefit already lies in the preparation for 2027.
B-Spec: Why Williams expects no miracles
However, the new chassis will not remain without performance gains. Vowles confirms that Williams will find some additional performance with the B-version. However, he deliberately keeps expectations low. “We have a bit more performance to add, but it will not make a decisive difference.”
The reason is simple: Williams has built up too much of a gap to the competition. The team no longer sees a realistic possibility to significantly close the gap with a single upgrade. “If we look at the field currently, we are simply too far behind.”
Therefore, a large part of the resources is now already flowing into the coming season. For Williams, the new chassis is supposed to lay the foundation exactly there.
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Chassis will be built modularly
Vowles also reveals that the new concept is deliberately developed modularly. This should allow Williams to adapt and further develop certain areas of the car more easily. “It prepares us well for next year,” says the team principal.
Due to the stable regulations, more can be carried over between the 2026 and 2027 cars than many would suspect. The chassis now plays a somewhat different role for the aerodynamic platform than it did a few years ago. “There is quite a bit of modularity in it,” explains Vowles.
With this, Williams wants to prevent the work on the B-version from becoming worthless again after just a few races. Instead, the project should flow directly into the car for 2027.
Piers Thynne to make Williams faster
Alongside the technical overhaul, Williams is also pushing forward the personnel change. A key role is played by Piers Thynne, who joined Grove after several successful years at McLaren. Vowles raves about the new addition. “Piers is fantastic. He knows what a world championship team looks like.”
Thynne was involved in two constructors’ world championships with McLaren and brings experience from the entire development process – from the initial vehicle concept to finished production. Officially, he is responsible for production as a kind of COO of the Formula 1 team. In reality, his task is much larger. “He helps us make our processes significantly faster.”
Williams modernizes decades-old structures
For Vowles, this is the real key to the future. The budget cap has indeed created more equal opportunities but at the same time has exposed decades of underinvestment in smaller teams. “We are behind, there is no doubt about that,” says the Williams team principal.
Therefore, it is not just about a new car but about new workflows, systems, and structures within the entire organization. Thynne is supposed to accelerate this change and make Williams a more modern development organization.
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