Williams is the first team to halt development of its 2025 car to focus all resources on the 2026 project. Despite this, Sainz emphasizes the importance of maximizing the current car’s potential.
Williams is the first team to abandon development of its current car to focus entirely on 2026. With new regulations coming next season, every team is balancing the present and the future, aiming to perform well this year while positioning themselves strongly for the start of a new era.
In March, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner suggested (as reported by The Race) that teams would begin focusing on their 2026 cars between May and June. Williams’ decision therefore comes as a surprise—especially as the Grove-based team is the first among the ten on the grid to commit all of its resources to 2026.
Aston Martin, which is heavily developing next year’s car with Adrian Newey, has still revealed that it’s testing the current car in its brand-new wind tunnel to identify and correct flaws ahead of the upcoming season. Sauber, too—set to make way for Audi’s highly anticipated debut in 2026—has not completely halted development of the C45, despite currently sitting at the bottom of the standings with just 6 points from the first four race weekends.
Despite a surprisingly strong start to the season with the FW47, Williams has decided to go all-in on next year’s FW48. This bold move could prove decisive in the battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with Haas trailing the team of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz by just 5 points. However, team principal James Vowles and Dorilton Capital remain unfazed—their sights are set firmly on future victories and championship contention.
“If you want to win, there’s only one way to do it: you can’t stay stuck in the present,” Vowles explained to The Race. “The last 20 years have been tough precisely because we’ve always thought short-term. This new approach has been fully supported and embraced by the owners,” he added. .
Despite this decision, Carlos Sainz emphasized the importance of unlocking the full potential of the current car: “I want to make sure that, even though we won’t develop it much, we will always try to understand its strengths and weaknesses so we can apply that knowledge to the upcoming cars.”
Yesterday’s double points finish (the team’s best result in Jeddah) marks the pinnacle of a season that began with courage and vision. A year ago, Williams was at risk of missing races due to a lack of spare parts; today, it’s firmly established as the best team after the top four. Despite this, James Vowles’ team has chosen to look beyond the immediate, breaking the mold to build something great. Will it be a winning gamble? Only the future will tell.
Photo: Atlassian Williams Racing
