Carlos Sainz: Williams investigating after long-term problem ‘flared up again’

Both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon have elaborated on a long-running car characteristic at Williams, which Sainz admitted came as a surprise when he joined the team.

He explained that he felt the sensation of the car reducing the load on the inside-front tyre through certain corners, reducing grip in the process, which teammate Albon has also described as a feature of Williams cars since he joined the team.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon detail Williams inside-front grip problem

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After finishing fifth in the Constructors’ standings last season, Williams has had a difficult start to this year by comparison, with two points on the board after a ninth-place finish for Sainz at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Both drivers have opted to run parts of the opening rounds as on-track testing sessions as Williams prioritises development, with weight reduction its main priority alongside its inside-front grip having been raised by the drivers.

When Albon discussed the characteristic at Suzuka, he elaborated that Williams had struggled through certain corners where the contact patch of the inside-front tyre to the track surface reduced, which the team has identified as a key area of focus in the opening races.

Asked if his car had been experiencing a ‘three-wheeling’ sensation, Albon replied: “I think lack of inside front grip has been an issue on our car since I’ve been in the car, so that’s nothing new. It’s just that I think some of the issues that we had were exacerbating that problem.

“Five years ago, I think one of our weakest corners was Turn 9 and Turn 10 in Bahrain, that double left-hander. I think that was always a comment.

“If you think about this year so far, generally, as everyone’s running with less downforce, the issue seems to be highlighted. So it’s just an area that we’re focused on.

“[The tyre is] not really in the air. If you look at it, it’s just it’s not got quite the contact patch of the other three tyres on the ground.

“It’s been a big focus point so far this year, and we’ve been attributing a lot of FP1 sessions to see if we can improve.”

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Sainz added that, while the team was able to work out a way around the problem during the 2025 campaign, it returned to the driving experience as Formula 1 switched to all-new machinery in F1 2026.

He added that his and Albon’s feedback has been taken on board as Williams searches for a fix, with the lack of front grip being one of the team’s issues so far this season.

“Yes, it is actually a comment I gave to the team all the way back in 2025 as soon as I jumped in a Williams,” he explained.

“It seemed like the Williams had this vehicle dynamic characteristic that, let’s say, surprised me from the first lap I did in Abu Dhabi, and I had to get my head around it at the beginning of the season, drive around it, set the car up around it, and we managed to obviously get it better and develop it over the last year.

“But as soon as we changed regs and the downforce of the car came down overall with these new regulations, the problem flared up again, and it’s something we are trying to address, investigate.

“I think, as drivers, we’ve given very clear directions of when it’s happening, how it’s happening, and what we feel when it’s happening.

“The team is doing everything they can now to try and understand it, to see what’s embedded into the car that might be creating this phenomenon.”

Formula 1 is now in an unplanned April hiatus after the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix and, with no factory shutdown mandated, every team is working at pace to both analyse data from the opening rounds, and put that into a development path for the season.

Sainz explained that, while Williams will also be joining the upgrade race as weight reduction is a key priority for the FW48, the success of these measures will not be measured in quantity, but in quality, relative to Williams’ rivals.

“I expect that the team will do a big, big push over that month to come up with something for Miami that is a good step forward,” he said.

“At the same time, in this sport, everything is relative. So you can bring a big step forward, then if the others bring a big step then you haven’t moved forward – you’re still three tenths behind the midfield. So, it’s more about how much of a bigger step forward you bring to the rest of the teams.

“I hope that in that case, obviously, we know we have a lot of weight to take out of the car. We have a lot of downforce to add. It will be how much we are able to do for Miami.”

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