Carlos Sainz has said Williams has faced \u201cserious issues\u201d in that, despite placing upgrades on its car and reducing weight, its gap to the front has increased since the start of the season.<\/p>\n
Sainz is without a point in the last four races, with teammate Alex Albon having last scored in Monaco in June \u2013 but neither driver has contested for the top 10 consistently of late.<\/p>\n
Carlos Sainz raises Williams development concerns after British Grand Prix<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n The 2026 season had been one always labelled with a high development factor, with teams able to find larger gains on their cars in the early stages of these new regulations.<\/p>\n Williams<\/a> was widely believed to have started the season at least 20 kilograms overweight in an immediate cost of lap time, and while weight-saving measures have been brought into place along with performance upgrades, Sainz believes the team has been on a par or even behind the development rate of its rivals.<\/p>\n With that comes conversations behind the scenes at Grove, and having moved up to 10th place on the first lap at Silverstone, the Spanish driver eventually finished the British Grand Prix down in 17th.<\/p>\n All of that combined left him in a downbeat mood after the race.<\/p>\n Admitting the gap to Audi and Alpine ahead was \u201csimply too big\u201d to keep up with, Sainz told PlanetF1.com and others at Silverstone: \u201cConcerning and frustrating, because it starts to be a bad trend this year that we don\u2019t seem to really find a lot of lap time when the upgrades are coming.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have a good sit down now this week, analyse what\u2019s happening, because unfortunately we\u2019ve shed a lot of weight out of the car by now, but the gap to the front is increasing and the gap to the rear of the midfield keeps increasing, so we don\u2019t seem to be finding the lap-by-lap [pace] we expected.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I\u2019m not happy. Today, I\u2019m very obviously upset. You\u2019ll see me now, I think a bit upset \u2013 worried, maybe, is the right word.<\/p>\n \u201cNo-one likes getting overtaken, especially after so many good starts that we\u2019re doing this year, and getting ourselves in the points because dropping back has been a pattern this season.<\/p>\n \u201cToday was a frustrating day, so you will not see me very cheerful, but when I wake up and I go to a factory in the morning, I will be smiling again and trying to put my energy to try and improve the situation and try and help the team to find the problems that we\u2019re having, because it\u2019s clear to me now that we\u2019re having serious issues with developing this car, and we are not bringing the performance that we thought we were.\u201d<\/p>\n Sainz<\/a> highlighted the work the team has been doing behind the scenes to try and bring parts as quickly as possible, pointing out a new front wing at Silverstone had initially been slated for arrival at the Belgian Grand Prix next up.<\/p>\n However, after trialling it in FP1, that came with Williams looking to seek a further understanding of the new part, with only limited running due to a Sprint weekend taking place.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old pointed to the deficit the team faced at the Japanese Grand Prix compared to Silverstone, as evidence of just how far the team has to push still.<\/p>\n More analysis from the British Grand Prix<\/p>\n British GP conclusions: Leclerc\u2019s Hamilton answer, no Russell fear, in defence of FIA<\/a><\/p>\n British GP 2026 driver ratings: Hamilton penalty, Verstappen crash, Leclerc\u2019s luck<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if that, with this set of regulations, we\u2019re not understanding the flow dynamics and the flow aerodynamics well, or what is happening,\u201d Sainz theorised, \u201cbut my feeling is that at Suzuka, we were 1.6, 1.8 seconds [behind] with a very overweight car. Here, we\u2019re two seconds off with a much better weight, and it means that something is not going into the car.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some load there missing somewhere. We need to go find why, and we need to be serious about finding the issues and create some bounceback from here.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams currently sits eighth in the Constructors\u2019 standings, on 11 points.<\/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