(Motorsport-Total.com) – At Williams, they had expected many things before the Chinese Grand Prix – but not necessarily leaving the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday with two World Championship points. Because actually, Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon were once again not competitive this weekend.
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The fact that the Spaniard still drove to ninth place on Sunday and thus secured the first Williams points of 2026 was primarily due to numerous retirements. For example, Max Verstappen did not see the checkered flag, and the two McLaren drivers were unable to even start the race.
“I hope that this serves as a small motivation for the entire team to improve from now on, because it is clear that the start of the season is not going as we expected or wished,” says Sainz himself after his surprising ninth place to DAZN.
At the same time, however, he also emphasizes that while the result is good, the Williams FW48 is still “too slow” to really have fun on the race track. “I’m just doing my best with what we have. I didn’t have the pace to keep up with Hadjar and the others in front of me,” reports Sainz.
P9 was therefore the absolute maximum for him on Sunday. “You have to keep in mind that we are four or five tenths behind the midfield,” emphasizes the Spaniard, who explains that Williams is currently actually only the ninth fastest team. This means: only newcomer Cadillac and problem child Aston Martin are even slower.
Team Principal Vowles praises “flawless” Sainz
This was also evident on Friday and Saturday, when Williams was eliminated with both cars in Q1 in both the sprint qualifying and the qualifying for the race. Therefore, it was “a surprise” even for Sainz himself to drive into the top 10 on Sunday.
Although they benefited from several retirements, the Spaniard makes it clear that Williams could not afford any mistakes. Especially since they also had some bad luck in the race because Sainz came in for a pit stop just one lap before the safety car phase in lap 10.
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When the safety car returned to the pits, he was only in 14th position out of 17 cars still in the race at that time. As the race progressed, Sainz made no more mistakes and moved up to ninth place, which he was able to defend against Franco Colapinto in the Alpine until the finish line.
“He was flawless from start to finish and truly earned these points today,” emphasizes Team Principal James Vowles, who also makes it clear: “We are clearly striving for more. We know that in terms of performance, we are not yet where the car needs to be.”
And Sainz himself also explains that a ninth place is actually “not exactly a reason to celebrate.” Because Williams had actually set completely different goals before the season. Nevertheless, the Spaniard hopes that the result can serve as a small motivational boost in Grove.
Why Albon could not start in China
Meanwhile, teammate Albon was unable to even start the race on Sunday. “Alex experienced a hydraulic problem on the laps to the grid, which ultimately meant the car could not start the race,” explains Vowles.
The team principal believes that given the many retirements, Albon would also have had the opportunity to finish in the points. Therefore, it is important to improve not only the performance of the car in the coming weeks but also its reliability.
In the World Championship, after the first two race weekends of the 2026 season, Williams is in ninth place ahead of Cadillac and Aston Martin with the two points collected in China – exactly where, according to Sainz, they currently belong.
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