Azerbaijan GP was a step forward for upgraded Williams - but real test is still to come

Did Williams' much-vaunted B-spec at the Azerbaijan GP flatter to deceive or has it passed the team's test as a stepping stone to bigger 2027 progress?

If there is a definition of a mixed bag, that's what the Baku weekend was to Williams. It progressed to Q3 for the first time in 2026, but didn't start there due to a grid penalty for Carlos Sainz. It scored points for the first time since Monaco, with some fortune, but also saw Alex Albon crash out.

Azerbaijan was a key weekend circled in red on Williams' calendar as it finally upgraded an FW48 starved of significant improvements for months. The Grove team wheeled out an all-new chassis, which was finally on the required weight, as well as a new floor and other aerodynamic parts.

The car's long run pace in FP2 looked encouraging, unlocking a long-shut door to the midfield ballpark that includes the likes of Haas, Racing Bulls and Audi.

In qualifying, Sainz claimed ninth but a grid penalty dumped him back to 14th behind Albon. From the belly of the pack it was looking like a long-awaited chance to score points went begging until Franco Colapinto took out Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris at a restart.

"It's been a mammoth effort to bring the update that we have here this weekend and it's nice to walk away with a point," said team principal James Vowles. "You can see we didn't have the pace on that first stint, and we need to dig and understand that because that was a critical part of the race where we weren't able to make progress."

The point for 10th was a reward for all the hard work in the factory, but did the Williams B-spec really deliver as much as hoped? "I think it's exactly the step we expected," Albon insisted. "Maybe we didn't expect Q3, to be fair to you. But yes, it put us in a midfield fight."
 
Sainz added: "Our initial feel is that the car feels just a bit quicker. But we were so far away that even though we've been bringing such a big upgrade, it still feels like we are playing a lot of catch-up. So as promised, no big massive surprises in terms of pace, a healthy step forward."

An additional factor is that Baku was a real Williams track, which can't be said from Malaysia's Sepang and the Singapore street circuit which will put a much bigger emphasis on downforce. So, coming away with a point and a DNF feels like at least half of a missed opportunity if it means Williams will regress again over the remainder of the triple header. 
 
"This track, even without the upgrade, it would have favoured us," Albon said. "Malaysia will be telling to see where we are on a much more downforce-focused circuit. We've also got now a few days to actually understand the package. 

"If you look at the big picture, we'll make the car go faster in terms of optimising it. But we'll be slower relative to the rest of the field, because that track will not suit us. Expect us to fall back in Malaysia, and then maybe in Singapore we can come somewhere in between."
 
As far as Albon's crash is concerned, which brought out the safety car on lap 31, he took responsibility for outbraking himself but felt it also further exposed of a key Williams weakness which has carried over across regulations.

"It was odd," he explained. "I braked a little bit later, but not much later. Then we had a big wind gust. I thought I would run a little bit wide, but I never thought I would hit the wall. 

"I'm sure I have to hold my hand up in that situation, but at the same time we've had these issues before. We know our car likes to lift the front wheel and we three-wheel. We know when we brake a little bit late, we can expose ourselves to that three-wheeling. And sometimes when it does that, the penalty for front locking is huge on our car. It happens.

"For sure, with the wind gust and braking late at the same time, it just tips it over the edge. It wasn't a huge amount; it was a few metres, but that's too much."

Williams fans may have expected more from such a long-awaited upgrade on a circuit that historically suited the team. But 2026 is already a lost season for Williams, at least on the track as it languished in ninth in the standings.

Perhaps it is more constructive to view the process of redesigning its chassis while adding aero performance as a stress test for the team. And a round of evidence gathering for Vowles that the Grove-based squad is now more capable of bringing through new parts than it was 12 months ago, and a way to course correct as the 2027 car project gathers steam.

With the latest chassis expected carry over into the 2027 campaign, that's already one big-ticket item out of the way.
 
"I'm confident you're going to see us stepping forward now that that big rule change is behind us," Vowles told Sky. "There's an aero change for next year, there's a power unit change for next year. But it's smaller in size so we can absorb it. 

"But it's going to take a little bit of time to catch up on the mess that's happened this winter. My real learning from it is we need a lot more investment to bring us just the ability to keep up with those in front. And the cost cap restrains us from doing that.
 
"[The upgrade] is directionally right. I think more importantly, it's the foundation we wanted to set ourselves for next year. We recognise this year's a little bit behind us, unfortunately, but there's a lot to do in going into 2027."

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- The Autosport.com Team

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