Sainz Urges Williams to Undertake Significant Philosophical Shift for 2026 F1 Season
Carlos Sainz, reflecting on Williams' performance, has underscored the critical need for a fundamental transformation in the team's car design philosophy ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The recent Hungarian Grand Prix served as a stark illustration of the current car's inherent limitations, particularly its struggle to maintain consistent downforce through prolonged, high-speed cornering sequences. While the team has made strides in 2025, demonstrating an improved all-around package and scoring points across numerous events, the deep-seated aerodynamic characteristics that favor circuits with long straights and tight turns continue to hinder its competitiveness on more demanding tracks.
Sainz’s insights, stemming from his recent transition to Williams from Ferrari, are vital for the team’s long-term strategy. He believes that immediate modifications to the current car are largely impractical, but his observations must inform the conceptualization and development of the 2026 challenger. The Spanish driver's debriefings have provided invaluable feedback on why the FW47, and its predecessors, exhibit inconsistent performance. This strategic shift aims to create a more versatile vehicle capable of performing optimally across the diverse range of circuits on the Formula 1 calendar, moving away from a design that thrives only under specific track conditions.
Strategic Evolution for Future Competitiveness
Carlos Sainz's candid assessment highlights a crucial strategic imperative for Williams: evolving beyond its historical car design tendencies. The team's current vehicle, despite notable improvements in the ongoing season, still exhibits a pronounced preference for certain track configurations. This inherent characteristic, which favors high-speed sections and abrupt changes in direction while struggling with sustained cornering, limits its overall performance potential. Sainz's experience from a top-tier team like Ferrari provides Williams with a fresh perspective and valuable data to guide their future technical endeavors.
The focus is now squarely on the development of the 2026 car, which will operate under new technical regulations. Sainz emphasized that the team's collective efforts must be directed towards addressing the fundamental aerodynamic weaknesses identified in the current car. This means moving away from a 'peakiness' in downforce output and striving for a more balanced and adaptable machine. Achieving this fundamental philosophical change is essential for Williams to consistently contend for strong results on all types of circuits, rather than excelling only where its specific strengths align with track layouts.
Addressing Fundamental Design Weaknesses
The core challenge facing Williams, as articulated by Carlos Sainz, lies in overcoming deeply ingrained design characteristics that have long defined their cars. The FW47, despite being an improvement, continues to exhibit limitations in sustained, high-speed cornering, a trait observed in previous Williams iterations. This means the car struggles to maintain optimal aerodynamic grip when navigating a series of continuous turns, such as those found at the Hungaroring or Barcelona. Conversely, the car performs commendably on tracks featuring long straights and sharp, distinct corners, leveraging its strengths in those specific scenarios.
Sainz, drawing upon his recent experience with Ferrari, has provided the Williams technical team with concrete insights into these performance disparities. He conveyed detailed feedback on why the current car falls short on tracks demanding continuous downforce, contrasting it with the superior performance he experienced previously. Although immediate aerodynamic overhauls for the current season are not feasible, this critical input is being channeled directly into the development of the 2026 car. The objective is to engineer a fundamentally different machine that offers a more consistent and robust platform, allowing Williams to be competitive across a wider spectrum of Grand Prix venues and reducing the current car's inherent sensitivity to track characteristics.