Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP

Williams team principal James Vowles says an “almost entirely new car” will arrive by the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in late September.

The Grove-based squad has endured an underwhelming start to F1’s new era, especially having spent so much of its efforts focused on preparing for 2026 last year, as its FW48 was completed late and overweight.

The weight issue and lack of quick updates have continued to hurt the team’s progress, as it sits eighth in the F1 world constructors’ standings on just 11 points – and only ahead of Audi, Aston Martin and Cadillac.

Williams has failed to score points in the last two races, with the hot conditions and corner profiles at both circuits exposing the car’s weaknesses.

With both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz frustrated by the lack of progress – with Albon finishing a lowly 17th, two laps down, while Sainz retired with an engine failure in Austria – the entire team is putting its faith in upgrades delivering both a jump in performance and a fix for its ongoing weight problem.

Williams delivered no upgrades in Austria, which Vowles believes that, coupled with rivals’ updates, caused a further dip in performance relative to the competition. Its chances were also hurt by the hot conditions, which Williams is struggling in at present.

“I think that’s one of the big reasons why you’ve seen us fall back a bit,” Vowles said about no upgrades in Austria, while speaking to Sky Germany. “Our upgrade plans, we’ve got what I call a medium-sized for Silverstone, so just in one week’s time.

“And then there’ll be small bits, Spa. Budapest, small bits as well.

“And then slightly bigger elements, including weight reduction to Zandvoort. And then really for us, it’s almost an entirely new car for Baku. So that’s really the time period that we’re waiting for.”

While Williams will naturally be hopeful its upgrades between the British GP this weekend and across the rest of the European stretch of the season make a meaningful impact on its performance, it will need to wait another six rounds until its major upgrade package is ready for the Baku weekend.

Aston Martin has a similar plan, as it aims to hold back on minor developments until it can provide a major upgrade package for the Hungarian GP later in July.

Albon has played down the British GP updates as a potential gamechanger for Williams, but feels it’ll help Williams close the gap to the midfield contingent of Alpine, Racing Bulls and Haas.

“It’s not going to get us to the midfield, but it will get us maybe closer to the Haas,” Albon said after the Austrian GP.

“I think that’s maybe a sensible first step this year to get a little bit closer to the midfield cars. I think we got lapped by the Racing Bulls today, so… we’re quite a far way away.”

Additional reporting by Stuart Codling

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