The Hungarian Grand Prix served as an illustration for Carlos Sainz when detailing the alterations in design viewpoint required at Williams for the 2026 Formula 1 season, following the team’s difficulties at the Hungaroring.
Reflecting on his initial 14 races with the team, Sainz observed that Williams’ underwhelming showing in Hungary aligned with anticipated performance levels for 2025. He pointed out that the FW47 performs favorably on tracks featuring extended straights and sharp corners, but encounters difficulties in maintaining downforce throughout more sweeping turns.
While Williams has worked to ensure that its current car is more versatile this season, securing points in 10 of the 14 race weekends, it still exhibits certain traits of its predecessors. The Williams FW44 through FW46 cars demonstrated strong high-speed performance, but also experienced significant fluctuations in downforce, leading to inconsistent results over the past three years.
Sainz mentioned that there’s not much Williams can adjust until the debut of their completely new 2026 car and voiced his expectation that his input would be incorporated into the design.
“The Hungaroring has historically been a challenging circuit for the team,” noted Sainz, who transitioned to Williams from Ferrari this year. “We engaged in a comprehensive post-qualifying debrief, especially considering my background with the team that secured pole position compared to our P13 result here.
“I was able to provide substantial insight into the reasons for the car’s struggles on a track of this nature. Realistically, there’s little we can modify for this year, but I hope the team will gain significant learning from this, understanding how to refine the Formula 1 car for success and competitiveness on circuits such as Budapest or Barcelona.”
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Our aerodynamic performance is relatively weak in sustained corners, where it’s essential to maintain downforce from the entry to the mid-corner phase. This presents a challenge for us.
“This issue has been apparent for a considerable period. Therefore, long straights and sharp, short corners are beneficial for our team. However, in long, combined corners like those found in Barcelona, Hungary, and Qatar, the car faces significant difficulties.
“Addressing this requires a fundamental shift in our design approach for the future. We are concentrating on pinpointing the areas for improvement to ensure that next year’s car is more adaptable and offers a more robust foundation for performance across various tracks.”
Even with his concerns regarding the current Williams package on specific circuits, Sainz believes that the entire Williams team is unified in their long-term objectives as they strive to achieve their first championship victory since 1997.
He further clarified that the team is not actively enhancing its 2025 car, limiting the practical application of driver feedback to on-track setup adjustments. Sainz stated that perfecting his execution during race weekends will be crucial for securing additional points against other midfield teams that have made more developmental progress.
“Our collaboration has started exceptionally well, particularly in terms of defining how we aim to evolve the team, the car, and our interactions with Alex and James,” Sainz commented.
Alexander Albon, Williams, Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Currently, we’re not in a phase where we can directly translate the feedback from both drivers and our identified objectives into tangible wind tunnel development for the car.
“Therefore, next year presents a more significant challenge for both the team and ourselves, as we seek to address the primary weaknesses of this car that become especially apparent on tracks like this.
“In the short term, my focus will be on optimizing weekend execution. There are no significant alterations we can make to the car’s aerodynamics or setup.
“Over the course of the Hungarian weekend, I tested three or four different setups in an effort to find improvements specific to tracks like this. Eventually, I reverted to the setup that contributed to competitive qualifying results in Miami, Imola, and at the beginning of the season.
“I believe we’ve been somewhat outpaced in development, and we’ve arrived at a track that is particularly challenging for us.
“During the second half of the season, I will concentrate on maintaining consistency in setup and car performance, ensuring clean weekend executions.”
