After a semi-successful weekend in Monte-Carlo, the Williams drivers look ahead to the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Last year, Alex Albon had to retire the car mid-race as he made contact with Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson. Carlos Sainz missed out on points as well, as the Spaniard finished 14th. Both had experienced severe issues with the Williams car throughout the weekend.
Sainz expecting difficulties at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP regarding weight
It is the first Grand Prix of the year when Sainz Jr. is going to race on home soil. Ahead of the weekend, the Spaniard admitted to being sceptical as Williams hasn’t performed well in Barcelona historically.
This year’s package is overweight, a significant disadvantage against their midfield rivals. While they have added downforce recently and lost some car weight, plenty of work is still head.
“I think Barcelona will be very tricky for us with the overweight and the lack of downforce, so I expect maybe going back to fighting for [getting out of] Q1,” he explained in the print media pen after Monaco.
Nevertheless, he explained that the team is improving with every race, confident that this development will soon be on track.
“But if we keep developing the car, for sure in tracks like this we will have all the chances of scoring points.”
Albon concerned about balancing downforce
Pushed on his teammate’s concerns regarding the car’s weight, Albon reflected on Williams’ pace at the Monaco GP. He explained that the car’s weight might not be the only issue at the moment.
As Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a combination of high and medium speed corners, Albon shared to expect complications regarding their performance.
“Yeah, we’ve seen this weekend as well that we are quite slow in the medium speed. Turn 1, turn 3, turn 4, turn 12. We’ve been quite slower the midfield teams. That’s partly weight, but that’s also maybe just balance downforce as well.
“We seem to be going quite well in the low speed. That was Miami, Montreal and Monaco. I think our hot streak is maybe going to be on the hold for a little bit. We’ll have to wait.”
With that being said, both Williams driver expect the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP to be challenging but not impossible.
