Williams’ painful start to the 2026 Formula 1 season shows no sign of ending any time soon.
For the second time in two days, the overweight Williams cars filled the bottom six places and were eliminated from Q1 in qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz fell just under two tenths shy of progressing into Q2 but had to settle with 17th, nearly half a second clear of team-mate Alex Albon who was a disgruntled 18th.
Albon was hugely frustrated at the performance and handling of his car, lamenting his qualifying in Shanghai as “terrible” over team radio.
After the session, he made the worrying admission that even drastic set-up changes are not improving Williams’ FW48 challenger.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s tough. There’s some weird stuff going on in the car,” Albon reflected to media including Crash.net.
“I think we did some setup changes and pitlane starts all throughout the weekend. I think I’m going to do another one tomorrow, just to keep going and keep learning.
“At the minute, nothing we’re doing seems to fix the cars. This track will expose us normally, but this is a bit more than I would expect.”
Albon said Williams has been trying some pretty extreme set-up measures to no avail.
“We’re going in areas that we’ve never been before and, to be honest, we’ll keep going and getting more steps from that. Nothing seems to fix the car,” he added.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
“I’m sure the Cadillac is quicker than us in quite a few corners, so I’m just trying to figure out what is going on. The biggest issue is the three-wheeling, so we need to fix it.”
He continued: “I feel like we’re getting to the point where we’re ticking off almost everything we can. So at that point, it’s like now what’s next?
“I think we’re going to have that discussion tonight; what else can we do to fix it. I’m just talking balance now, not downforce or anything else.
“So we’ll have a head scratch tonight, and if we think there’s a theory, I think you’ll see me sat in the pitlane again.”
Williams ‘cannot hide behind’ weight issues 
The FW48 is massively overweight
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Williams has massively disappointed in 2026, having hoped to capitalise on the regulation overhaul after being one of the first teams to commit all its resources to the new rules.
But Williams has started the campaign badly off the pace and towards the back of the midfield pecking order, with an overweight car the biggest problem.
It is believed Williams’ 2026 challenger is in the region of 20-25kg overweight, though an exact figure has not been confirmed.
But Albon insisted Williams cannot use the weight issue as the sole reason for its lack of performance.
“We cannot hide behind the weight because, at the end of the day, there are other cars that are up on weight also,” he explained.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
“Definitely not as much as we are, but they’re still overweight, and the deficit to these teams is not just that.
“There are a lot of balance issues in the car. We haven’t seen the downforce as well, so it’s an accumulation of things.
“The weight is one thing, there are also plans in conjunction with the weight loss to get the car a bit more in balance and add downforce.”
Despite Williams’ current woes, Albon stressed he has faith in the Grove-based squad to turn things around.
“I think it’s fair to say we’re all frustrated, not just myself,” he said.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT
“I think we’re all aligned on this. It’s been a painful winter, a painful start to the season. It reminds me a bit more of a few years ago than last year.
“I still have faith in this team and it’s just coming from such a high of last year back to where you were before. Everything means a little bit more, but we’ve been here before, unfortunately.
“We know what it takes to get back, we’re more prepared to get back as well, and we just have to wait. It’s no easy process, and while we catch up, they’re still upgrading and we’ve just got to catch up to our midfield rivals and try to finish the season in a good place.
“But for now, we are clearly a good chunk behind.”
Subscribe to our F1 Newsletter