Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon have offered an assessment of the Grove outfit's gruelling 2026 Formula 1 season so far, revealing that while a recovery plan is in motion, the team is unlikely to reach its targets in the second half of the year.
Speaking on Williams's Team Torque podcast ahead of the summer break, Albon and Sainz reflected on a challenging first half of the season. The new wave of regulations has proved to be a harsh reality check for Williams, which has struggled to replicate the form it displayed during 2025.
"As this first half has been as tough as everyone has seen, I do believe we're doing some good work now," Sainz explained. "The last two weeks, three weeks have been better for the team. I think the summer break is going to be good."
The Spanish driver confirmed that constructive discussions were under way regarding both this year's machinery and next year's.
"There have been some good, interesting ideas regarding this year's and next year's car, and I am a bit more optimistic," Sainz added. "I don't say that in the second half we're going to be at the level we want to be. Clearly, we're not. But at least the ideas and there is thinking process behind the scenes."
Echoing his team-mate's sentiments, Albon stressed that Williams is fully focused on ensuring the difficulties it has encountered this season are not carried over into the future.
"At least there is clear action. There's a plan in place," Albon stated. "Even the week leading up, it's a three-week break for us, but it's a two-week break for the team because there's a week of working after Hungary. There's a lot of work, a lot of data collecting that happens before shutdown."
He added: "I think by the week of the Zandvoort race we're going to have a lot of new data, new things to talk about, new areas of discussion for this year's car. There's a real intensity, real focus to make sure that we don't repeat this year again."
Heading into the summer break, Williams sits ninth in the constructors' standings with 11 points.
