(Motorsport-Total.com) – Williams experienced a disappointing race weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon remained without a chance in the fight for points. While Carlos Sainz received a time penalty after a collision with Oscar Piastri, Albon pointed to the fundamental weaknesses of the FW48, which became particularly evident at the Hungaroring.
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According to Sainz, he was initially on a good path. The Spaniard kept up with the Haas drivers and was even able to overtake one of them with an undercut: “I had a really good race until the contact with Oscar. We were able to keep up with the Haas cars and even overtake one with an undercut. We fought with both Haas, even though they were half a second faster yesterday.”
However, the collision with Piastri marked the turning point of his race. “After that came the five-second penalty and, in my opinion, an unnecessary pit stop at the end. We were ahead of Bearman and Alex, only to then come back out behind them and finish 18th. I first need to understand why we made this decision, because it seems a bit strange,” said the Spaniard directly after the race.
Despite the penalty, Sainz can also take positives from Hungary: “We had a good race up to that point. Even with the five-second penalty, we were still ahead of Bearman and our race pace was decent. Nevertheless, we are still far from where we want to be.”
Collision with Piastri causes frustration
In his official team statement, Sainz explains that this situation was further complicated by a lack of information regarding blue flags.
“I had a strong race today and was able to fight with the Haas cars, even though they were half a second faster yesterday. Throughout the race, there were problems with information regarding blue flags. In the duel with Fernando, Oscar suddenly appeared in my blind spot and unfortunately, there was contact.”
The subsequent penalty and a double stack during the virtual safety car phase cost him further positions. Looking back at the season so far, Sainz is nevertheless satisfied with his own performance: “I am happy with the consistency and pace I’m getting out of the car every weekend despite our difficulties. However, there is still a lot of work ahead of us for the second half of the season.”
Albon: “I can barely drive the car”
Teammate Albon also speaks openly about the Williams’ problems after the race. The changing wind conditions, in particular, made driving extremely difficult.
“This has been going on all weekend. The car reacts extremely to the wind. Honestly, it’s frustrating because I can barely drive the car properly. The team isn’t getting the maximum from me because I have to stay so far below the limit.”
The Thai driver describes a very narrow operating window. He only found a rhythm for a few laps: “There were perhaps six laps in the race where the wind calmed down and I finally found a rhythm. Then the wind picked up again and everything started over. It feels like you’re making mistakes, but you’re braking at the same points and doing the same things. There’s simply a lack of consistency.”
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Hope for improvement only in 2026
When asked about the planned developments, Albon dampens expectations. While Williams knows the car’s weaknesses, they are unlikely to be remedied in the short term: “We know the car’s weaknesses and we know which direction we need to work in. The work at the factory is the biggest effort I’ve seen in my time at Williams to eliminate these fundamental problems with the car.”
However, he does not believe that the planned update in Baku will already bring about a turnaround.
“I doubt the problems will be solved by Baku. Many of these developments were planned a long time ago. A large part of our work is now already going into next year’s car. We need to make sure that the next Williams no longer has these characteristics.”
Albon also considers the gap to the competition to be worrying: “Everything that happened this weekend, I expected. I just didn’t think we would be missing so much lap time. Even to Haas, it was about half a second this weekend. These are not small differences.”
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At the same time, he praises Aston Martin’s progress: “You have to pay respect to Aston Martin. I don’t think our Baku update will be on the level of what they brought to the car.”
Vowles: Car must finally make progress
Team Principal James Vowles admits that Williams had already anticipated a difficult performance before the weekend.
“We knew this track would expose all our weaknesses. Since we focused many developments on winter and Baku, it was clear that we would fall behind the competition. Nevertheless, that doesn’t make today any easier. It’s frustrating to see our cars struggling with balance and not being fast enough.”
At the same time, Vowles holds his team responsible for Sainz’s collision with Piastri. “With Carlos, we should have done a better job warning him about Piastri. We never want to interfere in the fight at the front and must ensure that this doesn’t happen again in the future.”
However, the team principal also finds positives. He highlights the pit stops, as Williams is responsible for the fastest tire change of the season so far. He also points to progress in communication, aerodynamics, and strategy. The crucial thing now, however, is that this development is finally reflected in the car’s performance on the track.
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