James Vowles says Williams now have an ‘aggressive’ plan to improve the pace of their 2026 F1 car

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Williams’ 2026 F1 season has got off to a rather disappointing start, but team principal James Vowles has revealed that he has an “aggressive” plan in place to improve the British constructor’s results in the coming race weekends.

There has been a lot of frustration coming out of the Williams camp since the season-opener last week, with it being clear that the team aren’t where they want to be after such an impressive campaign in 2025.

Despite scoring his first points of the season in China, Carlos Sainz admitted that he wasn’t currently enjoying himself at Williams due to the sheer lack of pace that they are suffering from when compared to their midfield rivals.

The plaudits go to Kimi Antonelli, but who else in the top 10 impressed you at the Chinese Grand Prix?

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Alex Albon has also shown his disappointment with the work that Williams have done over the winter, and he was unable to even start the second round of the season due to a hydraulic fault that was found on his reconnaissance laps.

However, team principal James Vowles has asserted that he isn’t happy either and outlined how he plans on picking his team back up and staking a claim to be the best midfield team on the grid.

• READ MORE: Carlos Sainz says ‘surprising’ Mercedes deployment levels have left Williams searching for answers

James Vowles says Williams have an ‘aggressive’ plan in place to improve performance by the Miami GP

In an update on Williams’ official X account, Vowles addressed the difficulties that the Grove-based F1 outfit has battled with in recent weeks to issue an update on when their fans can expect an uptick in results.

From inside the Chinese Grand Prix paddock, the British executive said, “We’ve got Suzuka coming up and then that long break as a result of Bahrain and Saudi unfortunately being cancelled.

“On a note on that, thank you to the FIA, who I know have taken a difficult decision, but have considered all elements. But also, my heart goes out to all those affected by it at the same time.

“In terms of Japan, we’ll come back stronger, and I’m confident as we then go through that break into Miami, there’s a lot more to come. 

“We know we’re not where we wanted to be today, there’s no doubt about that. But we have an aggressive plan to get us back to where the car really should be.”

Prove us wrong – Carlos Sainz made a mistake signing for Williams over Audi

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One of the biggest issues that Williams’ engineers need to address is the case of their overweight chassis.

It has been reported that the FW48 is currently 28kg over the minimum weight that is outlined in the 2026 F1 regulations, which severely hinders both Albon and Sainz on every single lap.

• READ MORE: Carlos Sainz says P9 finish must serve as ‘motivation’ for Williams to improve poor 2026 start

James Vowles also addressed Alex Albon’s DNS and Carlos Sainz’s ‘incredible drive’

The Williams chief also touched upon the performance of Sainz, whose P9 finish in Shanghai marked his and the team’s first points of the season.

“That’s round two over, and our first points on the board for Carlos,” Vowles added. “Absolutely incredible drive by him. Whether he’s fighting for a podium or two points, you can tell he puts his heart and soul into it and earned the result today.

“I’m desperately sorry for Alex, we weren’t able to start the race. We changed the gearbox overnight and suffered a hydraulics issue this morning, which you can only find by effectively driving on laps to the grid.

“The team, as hard as they worked, weren’t able to repair it before the start of the race. And it’s deeply disappointing because I truly believe he had the potential to also score a point.”