For all the understandable scrutiny on Aston Martin’s tough start to 2026, another team falling short of expectations is Williams. More than any other team, Williams spoke about prioritising the new regulations and sacrificing short-term development for this generation of cars.
As a result, the British team’s performance in Australia was underwhelming. The FW48 lacked the pace to fight for points, whilst reliability issues were also prominent.
One of the team’s biggest problems is their 2026 challenger is overweight. Unfortunately for James Vowles’ personnel, the process of eliminating this excess weight could be lengthy.
Williams on the defensive
It was clear even before Bahrain testing that Williams were in a tricky position. Having failed to get the FW48 prepared for the Barcelona shakedown, issues in the factory were difficult to hide.
Problems with satisfying the FIA’s safety requirements are understood to have compromised Williams’ assembly process.
Whilst team principal James Vowles downplayed reports of failing multiple crash tests, this has done little to detract from the issues facing the Grove-based operation. Irrespective of why the FW48 is so heavy, this area remains a significant problem.
The good news for Williams is that excess weight can be eliminated over time. In fact, most teams have started the 2026 season slightly above the 768kg minimum weight – though of course to a far lesser degree.
Rather than the weight itself, the problems associated with this issue are what Williams could struggle with. As mentioned on LWOS a few weeks ago, the budget cap could become a limiting factor for the British team.
Whether due to failed crash tests or otherwise, Williams were forced to make last-minute changes to the FW48. This means that financial resources that would have otherwise gone into development were spent on correcting errors with the car’s assembly.
These evidently last-minute adjustments came at a price. Aside from the immediate performance penalty of having a heavier car, the British team’s upgrade trajectory will have been impacted.
For the time being, the FW48 is proving to be a relatively uninspiring car from an aerodynamic perspective. Despite having the benefit of a Mercedes engine, the Williams chassis is nowhere near the required level to challenge the front.
In fact, the British team have one of the weakest packages in the midfield. Were it not for the nightmarish issues Honda are suffering, even Aston Martin would be comfortably faster than Vowles’ team.
How long to fix the issue?
Given that Williams finished the 2025 Championship in 5th place, their start to the new regulations represents a step backwards.
The FW48 is significantly further behind the front-runners than its predecessor. Overturning this deficit will take some time, and require improvements in all areas.
What is most worrying for the Grove-based team is that, since these regulations are brand new, there is plenty of room for teams already in front of them to unlock more performance.
In this sense, the FW48 being extremely heavy is just one of many issues. Regardless, James Vowles insists the team can overcome this early stumbling block.
“It’s not complicated to reduce it,” Vowles told the media in Melbourne.
“I already received in my inbox today all the necessary technical steps not only to reduce the weight, but also to achieve a significantly lower weight.”
“It’s entirely possible for us. If we lived in a world without a budget cap, I would get to work on it tomorrow – it would be done in a few weeks. But that’s not the case.”