The British team boss confirms they are working against the clock to reduce the car's weight. Miami will be the first test of the upgrades: "Every hour of this period has a purpose," he stated.
The start of the 2026 season has not been the dream one at Grove, Williams, which in 2025 managed to build a competitive FW47 with which Carlos Sainz achieved three podiums and fifth place in the constructors' championship, has taken a step back with the new regulations, the best result to date is a ninth place for the Spaniard at the Chinese Grand Prix, a meager haul that also came thanks to multiple retirements. The reality is that the FW48 has yet to show the potential its designers promised on the blueprints.
James Vowles, the British team boss, knows the situation is delicate but prefers to look ahead, in statements released this Wednesday, the executive assured that the April break has been used to the fullest to continue making progress on the FW48, the forced downtime became an opportunity to rethink several technical solutions.
"The start of the season hasn't been as we expected, one of the things it has taught us is that the way a team responds to challenges says more about it than the way it manages victories, podiums and the rise to the top, at the Atlassian Williams F1 team, we talk daily about accountability and resilience" Vowles acknowledged.
The diagnosis is clear. Williams arrived late to pre season, it was the only team that did not take part in the Barcelona 'shakedown', and in the Bahrain tests its drivers had to make up for lost kilometers, that lack of laps has translated into a performance deficit in the first three races, where the FW48 has only been able to fight with Audi and Alpine at the lower end of the grid, the lack of running compared to its rivals has been a burden difficult to compensate for.
Despite this negative outlook, Vowles is not giving up, he revealed that the team has been working flat out during this break to arrive with new features at the Miami Grand Prix, which will be held from May 1 to 3, where the main focus is on one specific aspect: the car's weight. The engineers at Grove have identified several areas where it is possible to shed kilos without sacrificing reliability.
"In terms of development, we are working hard on all aspects, especially on the car's weight, every hour of this period has a purpose, Miami is the opportunity to show our next step forward. We know it won't be the final product, but we are looking forward to making progress and getting back on track" Vowles stated.
But the upgrades will not be only aerodynamic or mechanical, the team has also taken advantage of the break to practice procedures that have cost them dearly at the start of this season, such as pit stops: "If you walk through our factory or our garage area, you will see them written on the walls, this break is the moment when those values must be put into practice" Vowles concluded.
Carlos Sainz himself had acknowledged that the winter work was not adequate, now, with the April break as an ally, Williams seeks to start a comeback in Miami that brings them closer again to the midfield.
Time will tell if the effort was enough. The fans hope to see a more competitive FW48 in Florida.