It is only the second round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, but Williams is already emerging as the disappointment of the year. Pointing this out is Jolyon Palmer, former driver and currently a commentator and presenter for F1TV.
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The Grove team is facing a more complicated start to the championship than expected. After missing the shakedown in Barcelona and presenting problems during pre-season in Bahrain, the difficulties continued in Australia, where Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz finished outside the points zone.
Now, at the Chinese GP, the issues seem to continue – in the only FP session, the Spaniard could barely practice. Therefore, in Palmer’s eyes, the English team is one of those that will disappoint the most in 2026.
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“Well, it’s going wrong in every aspect. I think weight is the problem we’ve already discussed a lot, but there are many things that aren’t working correctly on this car,” he told F1TV after Sprint qualifying.
“They don’t have downforce. Weight is a problem. In terms of procedures, there are some things that are not well organized. And Carlos also had reliability issues. And, for me, I think they are probably the biggest disappointment,” he added.
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