Williams 'Eureka Moment' Revealed After Disastrous 2026 F1 Pre-Season Showing

The headlines about Williams entering the new year have not been overly positive, with the British greats having to miss the first pre-season testing period of the year.

Having revealed their car for 2026 in the first few days of February, the team has confirmed they will be attending the first Bahrain test later in the month.

Williams finished a comfortable fifth in the 2025 Constructors' standings, but amidst expectations the team will take a significant step back this year, one F1 legend thinks there are quite a few positives to take away.

Gary Anderson believes it is too early to judge Williams fortunes in 2026

At least the blue featured on the Williams car looks great. | Atlassian Williams F1 Team

Gary Anderson is a well-known name in the modern F1 scene, having made his name as a designer for Jordan in the 1990s and post-retirement as a pundit in the F1 media landscape.

His background as a car designer inspired his latest piece for The Race, which delves into how the Williams car looks after the 2026 edition was showcased racing around Silverstone for filming purposes.

Anderson made sure to highlight just how much impact missing testing can have on a car, and the team as a whole - Williams also missed testing in 2019 and only managed a single point all year, while Lotus in 2014, who were also upper mid-pack competitors, fell from fourth to eighth after missing the entirety of the first test.

The Force India car of 2015 is well-beloved, with modern F1 legends Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg piloting the two cars. — The Force India car of 2015 is well-beloved in the community, with modern F1 legends Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg piloting the two cars. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Success stories have happened, with the most prominent being Force India in 2015, where, despite missing all of testing, they ended up fifth in the table come year-end, scoring double points in the first race of the year.

"Not getting the car ready in time and missing the first three days of running will have an ongoing effect on development through the season. The question is, how big will that negative impact be?"
Anderson on Williams' slow start

Also mentioned is the gambles taken by Williams on the car's front suspension, including a revised pullrod, as well as a stronger anti-dive system similar to Aston Martin, which will limit how much the car's nose dives after braking.

Williams took another risk, which Anderson highlighted, on the radiator size and airbox openings - going bigger than most other teams on the grid, which creates a more effective cooling system but could throttle aerodynamic performance if stuck in driver trains.

"[The front suspension] geometry being very similar to what Adrian Newey instigated, or allowed to happen, at Aston Martin will give Williams confidence that it was not just a mad ‘eureka’ moment."
Anderson on Williams' saving grace

Anderson's final conclusion is that, realistically, we do not have enough information to go on about how Williams will perform, and that the risks taken with the FW48 will either make or break the seasons of drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, as well as team principal James Vowles.

The track record with missing testing, though, ultimately leans one way: for every Force India success story, there are many more stories like Williams's only seven years ago that lead to doom and gloom in the following ten to eleven months.

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