Carlos Sainz and the Need for a Design Philosophy Shift at Williams
Carlos Sainz has highlighted the importance of rethinking the design philosophy of the Williams F1 team as it prepares for the 2026 season. His insights came after the team's performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which he described as a clear reflection of the challenges the squad has faced throughout the 2025 campaign.
Sainz, who joined Williams this year from Ferrari, pointed out that the FW47 has shown strengths in circuits with long straights and short corners, but struggles to maintain downforce through longer radius turns. This issue has been a recurring theme for Williams over the past few years, with the FW44 to FW46 models also exhibiting similar characteristics.
The Spaniard noted that while the current car is more of an all-rounder compared to previous seasons and has managed to score points in 10 of the first 14 races, it still lacks consistency in certain types of tracks. He emphasized that the team needs a significant shift in its approach to car design to address these shortcomings.
"Throughout the last three years, we've had inconsistent results," Sainz said. "This trend has continued into this season. The problem lies in our aerodynamic characteristics, particularly in long corners where maintaining downforce is crucial."
Sainz explained that the team's current setup is better suited for high-speed circuits with sharp, short corners, but it faces difficulties on tracks like Barcelona, Hungary, and Qatar, which feature long combined corners. He believes that the 2026 car must be designed with these challenges in mind to improve overall competitiveness.
"We need a very big design philosophy change for the future," Sainz added. "We're trying to understand where and what to change to make sure that next year's car is a bit more of an all-rounder and gives us a better platform to work in multiple tracks."
Despite his concerns about the current Williams package, Sainz expressed confidence in the team's direction. He noted that everyone within the organization is aligned on the goal of winning a first title since 1997. However, he also pointed out that the team is not actively developing the 2025 car, which limits the ability to implement driver feedback beyond track-specific set-up adjustments.
"It's not like we can exploit the feedback of the two drivers and the intentions that we have to develop this car, what we need, because we are not putting it in the wind tunnel to develop," Sainz said. "That's where next year is going to be a lot more challenging for the team and for ourselves to see if we can actually improve the main weaknesses of this car."
In the short term, Sainz plans to focus on improving weekend execution. He tried several different set-ups during the Hungarian Grand Prix to find an optimal configuration but ultimately reverted to the one that delivered strong qualifying results earlier in the season.
"The problem is I think we've got a bit outdeveloped, and come to a track where it's very difficult for us," he said. "The second half of the season, I will just seek consistency with set-up, consistency with the car, and just make sure we execute clean weekends."
As Williams looks ahead to the 2026 season, the lessons learned from the 2025 campaign will play a critical role in shaping the team's strategy. With a clear understanding of its limitations, the goal is to build a more versatile and competitive car that can perform well across a variety of circuits.