The Spaniard scores a point in Baku after coming back from fourteenth place but warns that the team needs more development to fight regularly.
Williams has taken a step forward at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but its drivers are aware that the road to competitiveness is still long; Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon the two men of the British team have evaluated the impact of the upgrade package introduced in Baku, the most important of the season and their verdict is unanimous: the direction is correct, but insufficient to fight for points regularly.
Sainz, who managed to qualify in Q3 for the first time this year, saw how a five-place penalty for not respecting the yellow flags relegated him to fourteenth position on the grid, despite the setback the Spaniard completed a solid race and helped by the retirements of several rivals, managed to come back to tenth place to score a point for Williams, the team's first in ten races: "I think it's what we deserved this weekend, getting a point for the team after the effort of the upgrade and a great qualifying on Saturday, a good management at the end during the last 10-15 laps getting back into the fight" Sainz declared.
The Spaniard, however, did not hide his frustration at the penalty that cost him positions on the grid: "I was very disappointed after what happened yesterday, the way it was managed. I was very down, let's say ahead of the race, I got a point for the team which was the objective" he added.
Despite the joy for the result, Sainz was realistic about the limitations of the FW48: "There is optimism in the sense that I think the package is going to allow us to return to positions where we can have fun and fight with the others, the reality is that to get points we are still going to need help from the others or from some. I think the package is good to see but after what I saw today, I think we are going to need more if we want to fight for points regularly" he sentenced.
Albon for his part experienced a weekend to forget. The Thai crashed into the wall after a lock-up causing a Safety Car that unleashed the chaos at the restart and eliminated several drivers, including his teammate in the subsequent sanction: "Unusual crash, unusual place, I haven't fully understood it, maybe I braked a little later than the previous lap I had a tailwind. We don't like that corner so we generally lock the front wheels there, my fault but it happens" Albon explained with self-criticism.
Despite the error the Thai showed himself satisfied with the initial performance of the upgrades, which included a new floor and adjustments to the rear of the car although he agreed with Sainz on the need to continue developing: "We probably need a little more aerodynamics on the car, actually this car wasn't bad. This track suited us well, our pace was quite good throughout the race, in the two medium-speed corners of the layout, turn 1 and the last one we were slow, which is going to make the rest of the year difficult" he explained.
The Williams team now faces a period of reflection, the Baku upgrades have demonstrated that the path is the correct one, but they have also evidenced that the FW48 is still far from being a competitive car in all conditions.
The 2026 season is coming to an end and Williams is already working on the 2027 project but the drivers need immediate answers to maintain motivation in the remaining races. The fight for points remains the objective but to achieve it regularly, the team will need more than just an upgrade package.
