Carlos Sainz sat out the second day of the second Bahrain F1 test for Williams, as team mate Alex Albon added 117 laps to the team’s tally. Combined with the team’s 110 laps of yesterday, this is a very welcome addition to the testing mileage after missing the Barcelona session.
Mileage in Bahrain much needed for Williams
At the press conference today the Spaniard admitted the mileage was important to recover the time lost. The team opted to miss the testing session in Barcelona to complete the FW48, therefore missing out on three days of testing.
“Yeah, as far as testing goes, I think what we needed over the last few days, which was recover the time lost in Barcelona by adding a lot of mileage to the car, I think we’ve managed to do that well.
“And the car is running reliably from the beginning. That’s allowing us, obviously, to find out the limitations and the areas where we have to improve, which unfortunately there are quite a few.
“But as I said, the main thing last week was mileage. And then this week we are finally starting to try and find a bit of lap time and performance out of it and try to put it in a better setup window.”
Top four F1 teams out of range
And performance is needed. According to Sainz Williams is quite far off the top four, which is a bit disappointing given the team started early with the development of the 2026 car.
“It’s been a very tough winter for the team,” he explained to Sky Italia. “I think that until last year, we were all very optimistic; we thought we were on the right path, but this winter has taught us that we’re all still far away. Not just Williams.
“When you look at all the other seven teams that aren’t the top four, we’re still far from the level they can develop [at] and produce new cars at with a regulation change like this year. Everyone who isn’t a top team.
“Ultimately what Williams can do is learn from this lesson that the winter of (2025)/’26 taught us to see how we can become a top team, because the new regulations expose you to all your limitations.”
Weight problem not Williams’ only issue
One of the main issues of Williams’ 2026 F1 car is the weight. With the new regulations requiring a lesser minimum weight, saving kilograms is more important again. But Sainz adds that Williams also suffers from a downforce problem during the Bahrain test.
“Honestly, I think we’re starting with a weight problem and a downforce problem because, ultimately, the gap between the cars in front isn’t all weight; there’s also a downforce gap, and we have to address both.”
He adds that he is a bit frustrated about Williams missing the mark after having most of 2025 to focus on this year’s regulations.
“How it is possible that Williams — who had the whole of 2025 to focus on the 2026 car and with more hours in the wind tunnel — we weren’t as good at developing the car as the top four teams that had less time, and that were fighting for the world championship last year.
“So it’s a lesson for the team to see how far ahead the front-runners are. We also have to learn to make lighter cars, but I think we’ve already figured that out this year. And I think the team will already be ready to produce a lighter car next year.”
