Bahrain GP: Race of issues for Williams F1 Team

By Williams F1 Team
October 5 2026

The 2026 Bahrain GP was a race that would see the Atlassian Williams F1 Team come away with Carlos Sainz managing only 17th and Alex Albon would retire with a gearbox failure. It was a race that would see the team suffer quite a few issues which would impact their race. The race would be delayed after confusion during the first formation lap with a wet track and at the restart both Carlos and Alex would make the right tyre choice seeing them running inside the top ten. But as the race progressed the first of the issues would see Carlos spun round after being hit by another car. This saw him drop well down the order seeing any chance of a good result disappear. Add on to this there were issues with having to double stack during a pit stop, Alex have issues with his car including his brakes and then the gearbox failure. But the biggest issue still was the overall lack of performance from the upgraded FW48 that would hamper both drivers pace. Overall Sepang was a race that started well but faded away quickly for the Atlassian Williams F1 Team.


Atlassian Williams F1 Team Bahrain GP Race Review



	Alex Albon: "A tricky race. We were on the right tyre at the start, the call for inters was spot on, and it was nice to be in the mix early on. Then the track dried out and we lost a bit of ground. The double stack didn't help, and with a flat spot on the softs we had to come in earlier than we wanted. We had a few issues throughout the race, including the brakes and a gearbox problem that ended our race. It's unfortunate, but we're lacking overall performance right now, and that's what we're really focusing on in our debriefs. We just want a smooth weekend and a feeling of progress, and we'll keep working to get that. I'm looking forward to Singapore, another home race for me, and hopefully we can fight further up the midfield."

	Carlos Sainz: "We did everything right at the start of the race and managed to climb all the way to P6. Unfortunately, after getting hit at the first restart I dropped quickly down the order and it was very tough for us to recover. It is a pity because we had a chance at holding on to a good result. We also need to look into race execution and make sure we have a better overall weekend next week in Singapore. We’ll try to bounce back and keep pushing."

	James Vowles, Team Principal: "A difficult afternoon with moments where we looked to be in a good position, and, conversely, moments where we don't have the pace in order to be fighting for points at a track like this. It was an interesting day with rain coming in at exactly the right time causing a halt to proceedings whilst the monsoon passed. Then we had an unusual set of events where cars were unable to get around on their own power on the laps off the grid, requiring a red flag before we could start. It was a tricky call to determine whether to run the inters or slicks as everyone saw, so well done to the team for really committing with the inters; it was a good decision, and we were looking strong, as we pulled a clear pit stop gap, relative to cars behind. It was unfortunately short lived with a safety car that allowed everyone to close back in again, and from that point forwards, we didn't get it perfect, but also just simply didn't have the car pace we needed to make it work. We'll come back stronger in Singapore, but our focus is well and truly on getting this right for 2027."

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia			Lap Length: 5.543km

Pos	Driver	Summary

P17	C Sainz	• Started: P13 • Fastest lap: 1:41.738
DNF	A Albon	• Started: P18 • Fastest lap: 1:42.284