Sainz delivers blunt Williams 'turnaround' timeline despite promising Miami GP

Williams started 2026 immediately on the back foot after failing to turn up to February's Barcelona shakedown following delays to their FW48's programme. Ever since, the British team have been struggling with an overweight car that has prevented them from building on their momentum from 2025, which saw Sainz finish on the podium in Azerbaijan and Qatar.

Despite the poor start, Williams have nonetheless battled for points this season, but Sainz was quick to downplay Williams' first double-score of 2026 at Miami, in which the Spaniard equalled his best finish (P9) so far with an upgrade package. Speaking to GPblog, and others, he said: “Yeah, with a lot of safety car laps. So not where we want to be.

Sainz was then asked more specifically when Williams could expect to make their gains, if it is being treated as a long-term project, or whether upgrades could be brought through quickly. Unfortunately for the former Ferrari man, it could be months before the Grove team reach the same heights as 2025.

The four-time Grand Prix winner said: "It’s going to take some months to finish the turnaround. I think we’re going to need to get to the last third of the season to see a proper turnaround. But at least the upgrade worked. A bit of the weight came off, but we still know there’s a bit to go. We have a few bits and pieces coming for the next couple of races, so we’re going to keep positive and make sure that we keep focusing on the negatives.”

A sure sign of how Williams' delays at the start of the season have impacted performance, Sainz also confirmed the team were racing in Miami in the package that had initially been intended for the season-opener in Melbourne. Sainz said: "We finally put on the upgrade of the car that was supposed to come to race one, because of all the delays we had at the beginning of the season, now we finally put the car that was supposed to be the race one package.