Motor racing-Williams see fixes for problems, hope to stay fifth in F1 championship
LONDON (Reuters) -Williams are confident they can fix issues behind recent retirements and expect a car upgrade coming soon to keep them on course for fifth place in the Formula One championship.
Team boss James Vowles told Reuters that they understood the brake problem that prevented Carlos Sainz from starting in Austria last Sunday and a fix would be in place for this weekend's British Grand Prix.
"The Carlos issue, we're very clear on it, it can be replicated on a rig, it can be understood, and for Silverstone we'll have mitigation in place," he said.
An issue that has sidelined Alex Albon in the last two races was more of a challenge but Vowles expected a solution by Sunday.
"The issue that Alex suffered was such an instantaneous and rapid problem that it's very hard to replicate," he said at an event in London with sponsor Gulf Oil International for a fan-created livery to be used in Brazil.
"Whilst the full detail of why exactly it's happening is not complete, we do have four or five different tests that will allow us to uncover that.
"By the time we're going racing on Saturday/Sunday, we're in a good place but it will have compromise on the weekend."
Albon has retired from his last three outings, in Spain due to collisions and a damaged car, and then in Canada and Austria due to issues that Vowles said were also seen on Sainz's side to a lesser extent.
"There's evidence of it being on the other side of the garage as well. I think sometimes it's very significant and severe and other times it's more manageable," he explained.
Williams are 19 points clear of sixth-placed Racing Bulls after 11 of 24 races and 107 behind Red Bull in fourth.
Vowles said the upgrade, the last big one of the season, looked substantial on paper and would come either for Belgium or Hungary later this month.
"We've been focused in the wind tunnel on '26, we've been trying to be clever about how we develop this upgrade so we'll see where we get to," he said.
"We need to make sure the car is reliable, we don't have accidents and we operate it correctly with strategy, pitstops engineering etc.
"And all of that put together, even with the car we have today, I'm comfortable we can hold on to fifth in the championship. At the performance step, that should only make our life easier."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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