- Sainz cracked a joke about his haircut at Suzuka before turning to Williams’ struggles.
- FW48 is over 20kg overweight, but Sainz says shedding kilos alone won’t fix the car.
- Sainz identified weight, downforce and balance as three separate problems.
Carlos Sainz arrived at Suzuka on Thursday with shorter hair, a bit of humour and a clear view of the steps ahead. According to the Spaniard, Williams has more to fix on the FW48 than just its weight problem.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz in the paddock ahead of the Japanese GP, Sainz acknowledged the team’s well-documented struggles before laying out what the car actually needs to become competitive: downforce, balance and weight loss.
Kravitz noticed the haircut and could not resist connecting it to the team’s very public weight issue. “The team has admitted the car has a bit of weight to lose,” he said. “Once that weight comes off, is it basically a good car? And has James [Vowles] asked you to cut your hair to save weight as well?”
Sainz replied without missing a beat. “Also,” he said with a grin. “It’s all part of the strategy.”
It was a brief but effective moment of levity in what has been a sobering start to the 2026 season for the Grove-based outfit. Yet almost immediately, Sainz shifted gears into something more direct and more honest.
Weight is only the beginning
The FW48’s weight problem has followed Williams since pre-season. Team boss James Vowles confirmed the car is more than 20kg overweight, even as official figures showed it at 772.4kg, just 4.4kg above the limit.
Reports from Planet F1, citing F1 Nations’ Tom Clarkson, suggest the gap could cost close to a second per lap. That number hangs over every session.
Sainz did not deny it. He leaned into it.
“We have a lot of weight to lose, I think it’s no secret,” he told Kravitz. “Would it be a good car? I think no, I think we can do better.”
Sainz pointed to how the problem started.
“I believe this team has the potential to design and produce a car that is much better than what we’ve done for the start of the year,” he said. “We had many issues on the production side, as you guys know, that delayed production of the car, put the car in a bit of overweight or even higher overweight than what we expected.”
Those delays showed early. Williams missed the Barcelona shakedown. Issues with FIA safety checks slowed assembly.
Vowles later admitted the team’s systems were not ready for such a big rules change. The result was a car that started the year on the back foot.
The budget cap has made recovery slow. Changes must come in steps, not all at once. Miami now stands as the first real chance to cut weight in a meaningful way.
Carlos Sainz outlines a three-step recovery plan
The Spaniard did not hide behind just the weight problem. He named three.
“The reality is that we can all do a lot better, and as a team, we’re not all gonna only take weight out of the car; we need to gain downforce and get a better balance in it. And that’s all of the targets for this year, to improve all those areas,” he said.
Weight. Downforce. Balance. Each one matters and until the team can improve on all three, it is likely to stay towards the bottom of the midfield runners.
Sainz had already raised this after China. He said weight was only part of the deficit. Downforce, he stressed, was a bigger issue.
Teammate Alex Albon backed that view. He warned the team not to blame everything on weight. Other midfield cars also carry extra mass, but they still run faster.
Albon pointed to balance problems and weak aero performance. He described it as “an accumulation of things.”
The wider paddock sees the same. Rivals like Haas and Alpine have built more refined aerodynamic packages. Williams, by contrast, still searches for a stable base.
There is some hope. Vowles has been open about the problems. He has a plan, even if it will take time.
Sainz, for now, keeps his focus tight. He jokes when he can. Then he goes back to work.
At Suzuka, the haircut drew laughs. The words that followed told the real story.
“We can all do a lot better.”
