The start of the 2026 season for the Williams team has been a complete disaster, as expressed by driver Alexander Albon. After three qualifying sessions held in Melbourne and Shanghai, the best position so far this year has been a disappointing fifteenth place achieved by Albon in Australia, while his teammate, Carlos Sainz, experienced issues and was unable to participate in qualifying.
In the Shanghai Grand Prix, the situation did not improve. Both Sainz and Albon were eliminated in the first round of qualifying, finishing sixteenth and eighteenth, respectively. The two drivers were over half a second away from the next round, with Sainz repeating the same position in the sprint race and Albon finishing last due to further mechanical inconveniences.
Despite the clear evidence of their car’s excessive weight, which the team acknowledged in Australia, Albon highlighted that this is not the only cause of their poor performance. “We cannot hide behind the weight, because in the end there are other cars in the midfield that also do not meet the minimum weight. It’s true that they are not as far above the limit as we are, but the deficit we have compared to those teams is not just because of that,” said the Williams driver.
In addition to the weight, the Williams car has suffered serious balance problems during the race in China, with Albon acknowledging that they have not been able to find effective solutions. “We are exploring areas that we never addressed before. Nothing seems to work. In fact, I’m convinced that a Cadillac is faster than us in several corners. The biggest problem right now is that the car does not maintain balance, so we need to solve that,” he added.
Looking ahead to the next race, Albon indicated that he will likely start from the pit lane to allow the team to make further adjustments to his FW47 before the race. “We have a discussion planned for tonight about what more we can do to try to fix this. I’m sure that if we find a theory, you will see me start from the pit lane again,” he concluded.
After their outstanding performance last year, where they managed to move up from ninth to fifth in the constructors’ championship, the current setback has been a real surprise for the Grove team, which has leading-class power units like those from Mercedes.
Albon expressed his frustration but reaffirmed his confidence in the team: “It’s fair to say that we are all frustrated, but we are a united team. This has been a painful start to the season, but I believe in this team. We need to be patient and work to overtake our rivals in the midfield and finish the season in a good position. Right now, however, we are clearly some good distance behind.”
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
