The Miami Grand Prix proved an important step for Williams, as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon ensured a double points finish.<\/p>\n
However, Sainz<\/a> believes that only come \u201cthe last third of the season\u201d will a \u201cproper turnaround\u201d be witnessed for Williams. Team principal James Vowles is happy with what Williams has in the \u201cpipeline\u201d, but admits that the development potential from rival teams is an unknown.<\/p>\n Carlos Sainz explains Williams\u2019 expected F1 2026 turnaround timeline<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n There was a great deal of buzz surrounding Williams going into F1 2026. The Grove squad had impressed in 2025, and entered the sport\u2019s new era armed with the fancied Mercedes engine.<\/p>\n However, Williams has been navigating some bumps in the road. With an overweight FW48, the team was restricted to just two points scored in the opening three rounds.<\/p>\n Miami was an important boost as Sainz crossed the line ninth and Albon 10th, putting a further three points on the board.<\/p>\n Williams were one of several teams to bring upgrades for the season restart, but Sainz stressed that the journey remains long for Williams.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take some months to finish the turnaround,\u201d Sainz declared to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re going to need to get to the last third of the season to see a proper turnaround.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at least the upgrades work. The weight of the car came a bit off, but we still know there\u2019s a bit to go.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a few bits and pieces coming for the next couple of races, so we\u2019re going to keep the positives, and making sure we keep focusing on the negatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams team boss James Vowles noted that Miami was a strong circuit for Williams last year. Albon was fifth, and Sainz P9.<\/p>\n But, Vowles believes the track specific elements of Williams\u2019 Miami 2026 performance to be only \u201cminor\u201d in the grand scheme of the team\u2019s improvement.<\/p>\n Performance projects, on a large scale, are continuing.<\/p>\n \u201cA better weekend for us in Miami,\u201d Vowles began in his Vowles Verdict debrief from the Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve used the last five weeks to bring a good number of improvements to the car in Miami. Part of those was aerodynamic development, so a new floor, new bodywork. There were some more elements on the front wing, modified rear suspension, exhaust blowing.<\/p>\n \u201cSome elements behind the scenes that you won\u2019t be seeing, but just on ways of working, how to get data out, how to maximise the performance of the car.<\/p>\n \u201cIn total, there\u2019s around about 30 performance projects that we\u2019ve been working diligently on over the last five weeks to bring.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news is, as we go through into Canada and beyond, some of those projects, will still be on track to be delivered and bring the performance up again.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso in Miami, we were able to take just a little bit of weight out of the car, which made a difference.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is small steps from where we were, which was on the back foot and not where we wanted to be at the beginning of the season, but I\u2019m really pleased to see that the team got everything they could out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cAlex and Carlos, really strong performance in that main race, especially off the line in the start, and keeping their nose clean to deliver another three healthy points in our championship fight.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a long way to go though, and we\u2019re completely aware that it\u2019s a very tight battle in and around the teams that we\u2019re with at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cAudi and Haas hadn\u2019t brought performance to the car, and so that may change the picture over the next few races, that we need to take into account.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we can control is what we have available to us, and that is what we can bring in terms of performance and updates over the next two rounds to ensure that we\u2019re just stepping forward relative to the field in small steps every time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were strong in Miami last year. We were strong again this year. I suspect there\u2019s going to be a little bit of track specific elements, where it\u2019s allowed us to perform slightly better.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, that will be a small, minor part, relative to the large amount of growth we\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Carlos Sainz and Williams from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Max Verstappen responds to Carlos Sainz criticism after \u2018jungle\u2019 midfield overtake in Miami<\/a><\/p>\n James Vowles admits Williams \u2018gap is large\u2019 despite 2026 progress push<\/a><\/p>\n Vowles reiterated that over the \u201cnext three, four rounds, as we bring more and more performance\u201d, what will be crucial is how does that \u201cbalance against those other teams\u201d around Williams.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in this continuous fight to just bring performance every single race weekend, and it\u2019s that relative gain that means you move forward relative to your competition,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, I\u2019m happy with what we\u2019ve got in our pipeline, but I don\u2019t know what others have.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have more performance coming for Montreal. Again, it\u2019s an odd situation where we\u2019ve got these two weeks, and we want to maximise these two weeks to the best for our ability, or three before the grand prix.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pipeline is a little bit still up in the air, as to what we can 100 per cent deliver for that, but there could be a nice, sizeable amount of performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, though, I think other teams, Mercedes, Audi, maybe Haas, will bring performance as well at the same time. So it\u2019s just what we\u2019re bringing, is it sufficient to maintain ground against those three teams. It\u2019s hard to predict that right now.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy with what we\u2019ve got in the pipeline. I\u2019m happy with what we\u2019ve got in terms of a program, both with weight reduction and aerodynamic developments, as well vehicles dynamic events.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I know is the pipeline of work that we have all the way to and just slightly beyond the August break, that at the end of all of that, should put us in this comfortable position where we\u2019re just consistently scoring points every weekend from then onwards.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil that point, I think we should be able to get closer and closer to, in a perfect weekend, achieving a points score, but not necessarily being the fifth fastest-team.<\/p>\n \u201cFor now, Alpine have that. We\u2019ve got a few tenths left to find to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n