Williams Must Make a Bigger Leap in 2026 to Compete for the Championship

The news of Williams’ success in 2025 has been heard across the paddock and across the world, as evidenced by their surprisingly large fan base when they visited America for the Grands Prix in Texas and Nevada. It’s an underdog story that resonates with people everywhere, causing die hard fans of other teams, be it midfield or championship, to vocally support the efforts of the former champions. Bringing the team back up to fifth place in the Constructor’s Standings took a complete overhaul of everything from behind the scenes to the track, but there’s no time to rest on their laurels. As driver Alex Albon put it in his review of their season, the jump from 10th to fifth place is smaller than fifth to first, and the team will face their biggest challenge in decades as they prepare for 2026.

Achieving fifth place is the first step in fighting for a championship. It shows potential sponsors that the team is using their funding efficiently, and that they can turn money into results. This means bigger companies, and more companies, will be seeing Williams as a team worth attaching their logo to for the upcoming season. Especially when faced with the new regulations, a larger payroll will help the team compete with the significantly more well funded teams at the top of the grid. The top teams, namely Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull, all push their funding to the top of Formula 1’s $135 million cap, a number most midfield teams couldn't come close to. While they aren’t at that level quite yet, the new funding 2025 brings in for the team will go towards more time in developing their new car and better upgrades throughout 2026. The money comes at a good time for the team, especially as they have signed relatively long contracts with both of their drivers, so they’ll be able to focus more on their vehicle instead of worrying about contracts.

While the new regulations bring opportunity, it will also be a setback. Despite wanting to begin their championship run after the success they had this year, they’ll likely still be fighting for fifth in 2026. Until the season has officially begun, it’s simply too difficult to gauge where each team will be until their new cars have been shown off on the track. Williams will be back to development for most of the new season, ensuring that their new car can perform as well as their old one. Other teams will face the same challenge, but the top four teams will be more prepared, as they had greater resource allocation towards the new regulations even during the 2025 season. For Williams, 2026 will be more about defending their position rather than fighting their way further up the grid. However, having tasted victory multiple times this season as Carlos Sainz reached the podium twice, the expectations for the team are much higher. At the start of 2025, Sainz said that he didn’t expect any top five finishes, much less podiums. Having achieved their goals for the season, even if they won’t be in contention for the championships, they’ll be aiming for at least as many podiums in 2026, and possibly even some race victories.