Can Williams Finally Get It Right?
As the official Williams F1 branding shows, they are thinking with Claude — one of the most popular AIs around. Yet the results in 2026 have been catastrophic so far. Williams are the team with the biggest year-on-year drop in performance in F1.
On the surface, all the major pieces are in place — ownership and investment, partners, suppliers, management, drivers, etc.
So how can a team with all these resources fail to produce its new car on time and within the required weight limit, for example? And how is it possible, with all the simulation capabilities available today, to spend months developing a car in the wrong direction?
During the next couple of days, at the Azerbaijan GP, Williams are expected to bring a major upgrade package which should correct many of the problems with the current car.
The first item on Williams’ to-do list is simple: go faster than Haas and move much closer to Audi, Racing Bulls and Alpine.
The upgrades better work — otherwise Williams Team Principal James Vowles will run out of explanations for why things have gone so wrong…
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Is There Light in the Aston Martin Tunnel?
Adrian Newey’s radical approach, extreme technical solutions and willingness to push the limits have worked beyond any doubt throughout his career. Newey is famous for his hands-on approach, relying heavily on his senses and intuition rather than countless computational analyses and simulations.
But technology is improving exponentially, and other engineering teams are making full use of the latest tools, including AI. They are moving forward at an impressive pace.
Initially, Newey had two explanations about Aston Martin’s poor 2026 performance : not enough development time and a lack of power from Honda. Fair enough.
But a detailed analysis of GPS race data from the start of the season all the way to Madring, compared with the leading teams, does not show the same performance pattern.
In other words, Aston Martin’s problems appear to be much deeper than simply a lack of speed on the straights.
Newey may now be forced to reinvent himself and adapt to the new tools that some of the younger engineering teams are already making full use of.
Baku should give us another important piece of the picture. Aston Martin are hopeful of another step forward.
Let’s see.
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Are Audi Moving Forward?
Here is a comparison of Audi’s qualifying performance from the start of the season, with Monaco and Monza showing two contrasting extremes in F1 terms:
Race | Gap |
|---|---|
Australia 🇦🇺 | +1.703 s |
Monaco 🇲🇨 | +1.851 s |
Italy 🇮🇹 | +0.731 s |
It will definitely not be easy to repeat the Monza result in Baku, but we have to keep in mind that the upgraded turbo should give Audi much better efficiency, especially on the long straights.
They now seem to be firmly in the fight with Racing Bulls and Alpine.
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