Williams makes uncomfortable changes in final nine races, Sainz says
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 24, 2026
Williams overhaul
Williams used Friday practice at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas to dig into why its 2026 car has struggled, and Carlos Sainz said the team is choosing long-term gains over immediate results. The focus has shifted toward collecting data for the rest of the season and for next year’s development, with Sainz saying the final nine races will bring major changes designed to build momentum for 2027. He called the work “quite uncomfortable,” but said Williams is willing to accept that short-term pain if it helps the team “hit the ground running” next year.
Sainz framed the move as a reset, not a quick fix. Williams had already put its 2025 campaign second while it prepared for the new technical era, and now it is using the rest of this season to sharpen internal processes as well as the car. That means the team is treating race weekends as rolling tests, with the goal of learning where the current package falls short and where the organization can improve once the next phase begins. Sainz said the approach is aimed at making sure the team starts the future from a stronger base rather than chasing marginal gains that do little for the bigger picture.
COTA challenge
The layout at Circuit of the Americas makes the weekend a useful test for Williams, even if it also exposes the car’s weaknesses. Chief engineer Paul Williams said the machine struggles in medium- and high-speed corners, and that is exactly where the circuit puts plenty of pressure on a team. Sectors one and three feature the kind of flowing, fast sections that can punish a car that lacks confidence or balance, and that makes Friday practice valuable for understanding where the trouble starts.
Sainz said the bumps and high-speed sections at the track also make the race physically demanding. That matters because the team is trying to gather clean information while handling a circuit that asks a lot from both driver and machine. For Williams, the weekend is less about chasing a headline result and more about working through a problem that has followed the car all season. The track should show whether the team can get closer to the limits of the package or whether the gaps remain too large in the faster parts of the lap.
Sainz outlook
Sainz was blunt about where Williams stands right now. He said the FW48 is not good enough to score points regularly and added that the team is probably no better than the top 15 in a normal race. He also said reaching the top 14 is very difficult, a clear sign that the team views its current form as a limitation that needs to be addressed in a broader way than race-by-race setup changes. Williams has scored only 12 points and sits ninth in the constructors’ standings, so the numbers back up the frustration.
That reality is why the team is leaning into the long view. Sainz said the remaining races are about learning why the car is so weak and using that information to correct internal processes. The plan asks for patience, and it asks the drivers and engineers to accept some awkward weekends along the way. Williams believes that cost is worth it if the team can turn the lessons from this stretch into a stronger launch for 2027.
