Williams under pressure as Hill warns of ‘tough road ahead’ in F1 2026
Williams will get there, but it is a tough road, says Damon Hill
1996 World Champion and Williams ambassador Damon Hill says that the difficult start to F1 2026 for his team is “a little bit disheartening”.
Hill is confident that Williams will get to where it wants to be, though the team is under no illusions that a “tough” road to get there awaits. Williams has managed just two points across the opening three rounds of the season, as a new era for the sport commenced.
Damon Hill on Williams 2026 struggles and rebuild
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
While Williams team boss James Vowles consistently kept expectations in check, there were high hopes for Williams in 2026 after a very successful 2025, a season which yielded two podiums, courtesy of the team’s four-time grand prix winner, Carlos Sainz.
But, Williams has found itself battling more towards the rear of the grid with an overweight FW48 car.
The F1 2026 development war is expected to be fierce and unpredictable. Williams is a team with a major point to prove.
Appearing on Channel 4 at the Japanese Grand Prix, Hill was asked whether improvements are on the way for Williams.
“They are coming,” he confirmed. “You have to keep moving forward, otherwise you go backwards.”
Hill re-joined Williams as an ambassador in 2026, 30 years on from winning his sole World Championship with the team.
The ultimate goal for Williams is to hit the front again, but there is adversity to overcome.
“But they’re coming from a long way back, so they’ve got a lot of work to do this year,” Hill continued.
“It’s a little bit disheartening. They had such a great season last year. So they know that the job ahead is going to be tough, and they’ve got to crack on.
“They’ll get there. But it’s a work in progress at the moment.”
Latest F1 2026 analysis from PlanetF1.com
Kimi Antonelli leads winners and losers as Japanese Grand Prix shifts momentum
Japanese GP conclusions: Dodgeball on wheels, Verstappen’s rampage, Russell’s Norris test
As the sport heads into an unplanned April break before returning in Miami, Vowles has outlined exactly how Williams will make use of this welcomed pause.
“Every single hour of that break we need in order to get ourselves back on the front foot by the time we come back to Miami,” said Vowles in a Williams social media video.
“Clearly, we haven’t started the season where we wanted to. So that period for us is about taking stock of what we actually really can change.
“Now, without attrition, we can count on the fact that production can be moved towards future performance, that some of that may come in Miami, some of that after that.
“It’s no secret that we’re overweight. Again, the developments will be in that period of time, making sure that we’re able to reduce the mass in the car in a sensible fashion.
“We’ve gone through, by that point, three grands prix, but there’s never enough time after the event to go through every single tiny bit of data and understand, really, what we should have done in hindsight, and what programs we want to kick off in the future, and this provides us a good time to do that.
“The drivers will come back here to the UK, and we’ll run our simulator in basically every single day of that, as much as possible.
“We’ll complete pit-stop practice with the crew back here over most of the days that we can as well.
“So it’ll be more about what do we fit in and what will provide the most bang for the buck.”
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Carlos Sainz calls for urgent rule changes after Oliver Bearman Suzuka crash scare
