HALF TERM REPORT: Williams' best and worst moments from 2026 so far and driver head-to-heads

After taking a huge step forward in 2025 to finish fifth in the Teams' Championship, expectations were high about possible success for Williams this season. But those hopes were dented even before cars ventured out on track. The team missed the pre-season Barcelona Shakedown and, since racing action started, they've been plagued by an overweight car as well as various technical issues. As a result, the team have just 11 points to their name going into the summer break and will want urgent improvements. Here’s the lowdown on their 2026 so far...

Best finish

Albon – 8th in Monaco

Alex Albon finished eighth in Monaco, the team's best finish so far this season. But even then, there was a sting in the tail for the squad with Carlos Sainz hit twice in a late red flag restart – forcing him to retire and denying Williams a potentially vital double points finish.

Despite his finishing position, Albon showed some frustration over team orders where he had let Sainz through and then backed the field up to help him with a pit stop... only for his team mate to retire.

"I gave up a position to Arvid Lindblad and I thought at that point we've done all of that for nothing and I was frustrated at the time because I thought it was a silly way to give away an obvious points position," Albon said at the time. "Luckily we made it work. I think P8 is a great result for us and it's been maybe my best weekend so far this year so I'm very happy."

The team have only had one double points result this season - in Miami where Sainz finished ninth and Albon 10th. More on that to come...

Qualifying head-to-head

Albon 2-9 Sainz

While there's not much to celebrate in a tough campaign so far for Williams, Sainz might take heart from the fact that he has led the Qualifying head-to-head by nine to two over Albon.

Neither driver has made Q3 in Qualifying yet this season, though Sainz did manage a P10 in Sprint Qualifying in Canada.

Race head-to-head

Albon 5-6 Sainz

Sainz also tops the Grand Prix head-to-head figures, albeit only by six to five. Incidentally these numbers represent the number of points scored by each driver to make up the 11 on the Williams' tally, with Sainz recording three P9 finishes while Albon has a P8 and a P10 to his name.

Both drivers scored points in Miami after Williams brought an upgrade – but this is the only race so far with two top-10 finishes to celebrate.

Best moment

There haven't been too many candidates for this category, but we are going for the double points finish in Miami. Sainz finished P9 whilst Albon was just behind him in P10 – making up five places after qualifying in 15th.

It seemed like that moment could have marked the beginning in turning around Williams' lacklustre start, but despite the positive result both drivers remained cautious.

Sainz said they had set themselves “higher expectations”, whilst Albon added that they needed to continue with that level of performance in future races.

Williams scored points in both Canada and Monaco but have failed to add to their tally in the last five Grands Prix.

Worst moment

Williams' tough 2026 season ultimately began with them missing the Barcelona Shakedown. While they did well to recover lost track time, it signalled that they were behind where they needed – or wanted – to be.

Speaking to F1.com, Team Principal James Vowles recently explained how tough the winter had been for the Grove-based squad and the problems with the production of the car were a big surprise.

“You get exposed in these large regulation changes," he said. "We need a team and system support structure, processes, hardware, around us that when the game changes, like a regulation set, we don’t fall back."

Williams' issues then continued, with their FW48 challenger overweight for the first few races. The Japanese Grand Prix was even treated as a test session with Albon making five consecutive pit stops to experiment with different setups.

Going forward

The big question now is how will Williams come back after the summer shutdown? Before the break in Hungary, things seemed to go backwards for the team, with both drivers being eliminated in Q1, losing out to one of the upgraded Aston Martins, and only lapping quicker than F1 newcomers Cadillac.

At the Hungaroring, Sainz commented that a decision on whether he sticks with Williams in the future “depends on how quickly we manage to bounce back” – while noting “what the team is investing” and how “the vision is still pretty clear”.

Meanwhile Albon celebrated his 100th Grand Prix with the team in Budapest, but how long could that loyalty last if results don't improve?

Speaking to F1.com, Vowles insisted he was convinced it will all come good and says both drivers "want to invest to make it a better team and a faster team."

As for improvements, Williams are expected to bring an upgrade, including a new chassis, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in late September but the impression is that the team are gradually shifting their focus to 2027.

“Lots of changes for next year,” Vowles promised. “Next year is already being worked on, because it’s the right thing to be doing at the moment.

“There are some elements of this year’s car we won’t be able to dig out to the level of completeness that I want to. This year is about a couple of really nasty handling characteristics in the car, finding those and fixing them, to create the right platform for the future.

“With it will come performance, but it’s really about that focus of just getting some of the basics right to present a strong future.”