Carlos Sainz: I knew that Williams' progress would stall.

      In the winter off-season, Williams could be conditionally classified as a "dark horse," as last year Carlos Sainz made it to the podium a couple of times, and by the end of the championship, the team confidently secured 5th place in the Constructors' Cup. It seemed they were on the rise and would definitely "shoot" in 2026, as preparations for the new season in Grove began quite early.

      But in reality, it turned out to be quite the opposite, as it became known in January that the FW48 chassis failed crash tests on the first attempt. The consequences were immediate: Williams missed the initial shakedown in Barcelona, and then the team decided against holding a full presentation at their base in Grove, scheduled for February 3, opting to unveil the car online instead.

      By the time of the tests in Bahrain, the team managed to prepare the car, but unfortunately, it was about 20 kg heavier than desired, and such issues cannot be quickly resolved. However, it wasn't just about the excessive weight of the chassis, but also its insufficient efficiency, which is related to a balance issue that the Mercedes power unit does not compensate for, even though it is considered the best this season.

      However, Sainz assures that none of this came as a surprise to him.

      "Of course, it's a shock for me, for the whole team, for James Vowles, for our engineers," Carlos is quoted by the Austrian publication Motorsport Magazin. "But I saw this coming back in December-January and tried to prepare myself psychologically, as there were already talks in the team that we were falling behind the preparation schedule for the season.

      I knew that at some point, Williams' progress would stall. Not all roads to success are straight. Last year, we performed at a level that we did not match. As it turned out, the team is in an even more difficult position than we thought. Just three or four months ago, we were in 5th place in the Constructors' Cup, and in the second half of the championship, we were climbing onto the podium – the team was gaining momentum, and everyone had a confident mindset.

      You could say that sometimes it hinders noticing the mistakes made – this happens in sports. When everything is going well, you simply don't realize that you're doing some things not quite right. But now the team will need a quality like perseverance – we must understand how to act to make up for the deficit.

      It is critically important in the process of eliminating it to get rid of the structural deficiencies of the FW48, to achieve higher quality in the production of all parts, as all of this combined led to the excessive weight of the chassis. If we can overcome the virus that has affected our team, we can make significant progress and return to higher positions."