– For Williams, things are looking up – but only slowly. Carlos Sainz’s 14th place in qualifying for the Formula 1 race in Miami (follow live here in the ticker) was the team’s best qualifying result of the season and also shows how terrible the team’s performance was in the first races. For the first time, both cars made it into the second segment.
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“In terms of performance, we have taken a step,” praises Sainz the upgrades his team brought to Miami. These include, among others, the floor, the sidepods, the engine cover, and the mounts of the rear crash structure.
Williams is still working on understanding the upgrade, as Sainz admits: “We have some problems figuring out exactly which part delivers what.”
F1: Grand Prix of Miami (USA) 2026
“I think we have seen some variability in the load between the cars and in the balance, which we will probably need a week to understand,” says the Spaniard.
“But at least the performance is somewhat better. We are still not where we want to be, as we are still half a second off Q3 – it will be a long fight. But we know we have overweight, we know more things will come, so let’s try to stay positive.”
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From his point of view, it is already positive that he can fight with other cars in Miami, as that was not necessarily the case before: “Honestly, the first three races were very tough because we didn’t even fight in the midfield,” says Sainz.
“And for a driver, that means not even being able to fight for positions. It was just Alex and me, and then Cadillac and Aston Martin fell back and the midfield moved forward.”
Being able to compete in the midfield in Miami at least gives the team some hope and motivation to squeeze the last bit out of the car. “But we must not take our foot off the gas. We know this is not yet the level we should be at as a team, and we must continue to work hard.”
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