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Williams Keeps Sainz and Albon After Vowles Admits Botched 2026 Car

Vowles accepted responsibility for an overweight, late FW48, securing driver commitments by presenting a technical and organisational recovery plan.

Overview

  • Williams announced contract extensions that keep Alex Albon on a one‑year deal and Carlos Sainz on a multi‑year deal, locking in the pair for the near future.
  • Team principal James Vowles publicly admitted the FW48 was late, overweight and below expected performance and said he personally took responsibility for the failures.
  • Vowles persuaded both drivers to stay by walking them through changes to people, processes, systems and structures designed to fix development problems.
  • Media outlets report Williams is preparing a near‑complete 'B‑spec' rebuild of the FW48 for introduction around the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but that plan remains unconfirmed by the team.
  • Vowles warned the rebuild will take time because decades of underinvestment left outdated systems, and he said the team does not expect to restore competitiveness within a single season.