Carlos Sainz Doubts Major Williams Upgrade Can Rescue 2026 Season

Carlos Sainz doubts the upcoming Williams B-spec package will erase the one-second-per-lap deficit the team needs to fight consistently for points during the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Williams endured a difficult start to the campaign after missing its private Barcelona test at the end of January and arriving at Bahrain pre-season testing already behind schedule. An overweight car further restricted Sainz and Alex Albon in the midfield battle.

Upgrades introduced at the Miami Grand Prix helped reduce weight and moved Williams to eighth in the constructors’ championship with 11 points. However, Sainz believes those gains have not been enough to put the team into points contention on pure pace.

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“It is very difficult for us to score points. It is almost impossible to score points with the lack of performance we have,” Sainz said.

Team principal James Vowles has indicated that a major upgrade package is scheduled to arrive around the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The new specification is intended to give Sainz and Albon a more consistent opportunity to challenge inside the top 10.

Sainz, however, does not expect the B-spec car to deliver a gain of one second per lap. He estimated that Williams is currently around two seconds behind Mercedes and one second behind Racing Bulls, underlining the scale of the performance gap.

“I don’t believe it will give us as much as one second per lap, which is what we need to get into points contention,” he said.

Sainz believes Williams can still capitalise in unusual races with heavy attrition, but suggested the scale of the required changes may demand a full winter of development. The Azerbaijan package will provide the first indication of whether the team can reduce its deficit before attention shifts towards the following season.