Williams has evolved, but is still overweight in Miami: "We've made progress, but we still have a long way to go."

Beware of excesses during the holiday season, when the food served is mouthwatering but particularly rich. It is during this winter period that the FW48, car committed by Williams for the 2026 world championship, has clearly not adhered to its slimming regime imposed by the FIA.

While teams can reduce the weight of their cars to as low as 768 kg this year, the British are carrying an extra 20 to 30 kg: a huge hindrance in a F1 where every last superfluous gram is scrutinized from all sides. While 2026 was supposed to be the year of their return to the forefront, it is currently the year of their descent into hell for James Vowles' troops, who have only scored points once (Carlos Sainz(9th in China).

With a month-long break, Williams has been able to work on making its car more competitive while reducing its weight. But this quest for weight reduction has not yet been successful and will take time to be fully effective. "We're bringing quite a few upgrades; the car will be different. But it's not so much what it looks like that matters—it's the performance these changes bring.", assures Carlos Sainz. “In this situation, given that everyone seems to be bringing a lot to the table, I don’t think our position will change drastically. But I hope this is the start of our comeback during the season. It’s a first step, and I think we’ll have to wait until later in the season for the big steps.”

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A problem with weight, but also with balance on the Williams

“Some changes should be visible, others will clearly be focused on weight. But weight reduction is a long-term project that will take almost the entire year to eliminate all the excess weight we have on this car.” continued the Madrid native. "So these will be small steps, and the biggest steps will come later in the season. In the meantime, it will be a combination of aerodynamics and weight reduction to improve the situation. But, as I said, the big steps will come later in the year."

An analysis shared by Alex Albon. "We have taken a step forward, but we know that other aspects, particularly weight, offer more promising prospects.", explains the Thai man. “We’ve made the car lighter, but it’s not enough yet. We’re doing everything we can to speed up the process, and that will materialize later this year. We’ve made progress, but we still have a long way to go.”

To lighten its car, Williams faces a budget constraint: with the spending cap, the Grove-based team can't afford to make extravagant purchases and must proceed step by step. Especially since there are other issues to resolve simultaneously with a car that has proven particularly difficult to drive.  "We can't just hide behind the weight issue. Strange things are happening in the car." Albon revealed in China. "Nothing seems to be able to fix the car," he continued. "The biggest problem right now is that the car is driving on three wheels—so that needs to be fixed as a priority." Williams attempted to correct a balance issue on the FW48 during the break. It remains to be seen to what extent this will improve on-track performance, even though the car is still significantly overweight.

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