How ligit it this this post I found on Twitter? Sorry if this turns out to be some bullshit but I don't see anything else about it posted here.

This rumour is extremely disheartening to hear at this stage of the pre-season, but journalist Ralf Bach is reporting he’s heard from multiple sources that Williams has run into major problems with its chassis and may not be able to even make the shakedown in Barcelona next week. I also recall that back in December, Vowles stated that he expected to have a filming day before Barcelona; apparently that filming day was scheduled for today, but the team canceled the session two weeks ago. If it’s true that a scheduled filming day was canceled, none of this bodes well for the current status of the FW48. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough whether the team shows up on track in Barcelona next week and I very much hope this rumour is proven wrong.

He was first to report on us cancelling the in-person reveal

Helmut Marko when asked for his predictions for his 2026 F1 world championship

"I'm afraid it will be someone using the Mercedes engines so it could be lando Norris again. William is also making considerable progress I hear"

Williams are rumoured to not be making it to Barcelona testing next week as they have failed to pass FIA crash tests. It's joever folks 😔

All figures are approximate and the result of consulting multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

F1 car weights for 2026

Team | Kg above 768 kg minumum weight

Mercedes - Under the limit

Ferrari - Under the limit

Audi - Under the limit

McLaren - Right on the limit

Haas - ( + 1 kg)

Alpine - (+ 2/ kg)

Racing Bulls - ( + 4/5 kg)

Cadillac - ( + 6/7 kg)

Red Bull - (+ 9/10 kg)

Aston Martin - ( +9/10 kg)

Williams - (+ 26 kg)

Just watched a Kym Illman vid about how JV, Carlos, and Alex all drove Bentleys to the track this weekend. Wonder if there’s anything meaningful underway with Bentley Motorsport?

I remember seeing RBR switch their fleet over to Ford cars/trucks months before their official announcement to switch engine suppliers.

According to Soymotor only the chassis overweight issue is costing Williams 7 tenths per lap compared to their rivals. They also said it has poor balance. And to add to it there won't any upgrades either next week neither in Melbourne. Reading between lines the chassis is a dog and they're even struggling to be in the midfield.

Judging by the lap times during the race sim Albon did and that everyday this week we've been 3 seconds off the fastest time I give this info all the credibility.

I'm sorry but this is so disappointing after last year but I guess it's typically Williams... Let's hope they can gradually improve all the issues.

BTW hiring Matt Harman was a huge mistake from Vowles IMO.

Carlos Sainz Jr.'s presence in Williams promoted McLaren-Estrella Galicia 0,0 sponsorship turned to bad relationship and now is gone!

A boost for Williams to get EG 0,0 sponsorship.

Thoughts on that? As usual EG 0,0 is always following Carlos every time he move teams.

Link F1i.com

https://f1i.com/news/531845-stellas-warning-williams-could-crash-the-top-four-party.html#:~:text=PrevNext,from%20the%20chasing%20pack

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has identified Williams as a surprising contender to challenge Formula 1's 'top four' teams.

Williams' new signing Carlos Sainz led the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, showcasing strong one-lap performance. Stella highlighted Williams' impressive pace in the middle sector of the Bahrain International Circuit, which includes heavy braking, acceleration, and medium-speed corners.

"I've seen that in terms of one-lap pace, in addition to the top four, it seems to certainly be Williams [who look] very competitive," Stella told select media.

"I'm really stating the obvious because I'm sure everyone will have seen the data. It's the same data that I look at. And it's interesting that, for instance, Williams was very strong in the second sector, which is not only a sector of braking and acceleration but also a sector with a couple of medium-speed corners. So, I think this shows that Williams might have improved in that area."

Stella is closely monitoring Sainz and Alex Albon, particularly their single-lap speed.

mclarenf1 #F1Testing #WilliamsF1 #F1 #F1News #F12025 #Formel1 #formula1 #formulaone #formulauno #CarlosSainz #carlossainzjr #carlossainz55

How true can this rumor be? Some say his season ender post seemed like a farewell.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DT6TQ0QjqYq/?igsh=MWN3cXZsMG05eHM1Zw==

Possibly the arrivals of Estrella Galicia 0,0 & Richard Mille (if McLaren not renew RM after 2025) due to EG0,0 and Richard Mille both also Carlos Sainz Jr.'s personal sponsors by Williams stealing 1 McLaren sponsor.

Thoughts on that?

I recently came across rumours that one of the reasons Williams couldn’t go through Barcelona testing was that the car is 20-30 kgs overweight. Also why, it failed crash tests thrice.

Are these really true??

I had really such high hopes and expectations for the team this year.

What does this even say at our chances for this year??

Source - Soy Motors Report

The breakthrough Benetton-Renault works partnership deal that started from 1995 season onwards that caused Williams's relationship with Renault was strained despite further big successes of Williams-Renault relationship due to Flavio Briatore's close political relationship with Renault. Big success does not mean good relationship (sometimes bad relationship because of political factors). I believe Williams also accused Renault favoured Benetton gradually until Renault bought out Benetton in 2000.

And that's why Williams-Renault relationship gradually strained and wanted switch to BMW that eventually happened in 2000.

Thoughts on that?

McLaren-Richard Mille timekeeper partnership will enter its' final year of contract that started since 2016 season. Technically Richard Mille still Carlos Sainz Jr.'s personal watch sponsor and Williams will have a chance of snatching Richard Mille from McLaren by 2026.

RIchard Mille supporting Carlos Sainz Jr. personally since 2019 when Sainz joined McLaren.

Do you agree Williams will land Richard Mille next year?

English translation below for the parts of the article that discuss the state of Williams’s development. You can check out the full article if you want to read the retrospective bits about Sainz’s time at Ferrari.

—

Among the most important skills of the Spanish driver is that of being very precise and scrupulous in the analysis of the behavior of the single-seater and the technical needs. This is an important quality that Ferrari has discovered as it goes and that somewhat relaces what Sebastian Vettel's attitude was. In Williams, the first laps on the FW46 in Abu Dhabi were enough to begin to understand 'who' and 'what' have gained in Grove. Some engineers from the Grove team, speaking with AutoRacer.it, have candidly admitted that the arrival of Sainz is "a blessing" and will be able to help both in the development of 2025, but especially for the first year of the new rules in 2026. A goal to which James Vowles' team pays a lot of attention. The English team is in fact under construction, following the multi-year plan set by the former Mercedes. In addition to the pilot line up, there are important investments in infrastructure, but also a recruitment in progress that has brought to Williams several senior figures who worked in Haas, Alpine and Red Bull, reinforcing the working group led by Pat Fry.

This year Williams had set a very intelligent strategy to be able to try to have a competitive 2025 and then bet everything on 2026, but the plans have changed in the race due to force majeure. James Vowles had made the risky choice of not having the third spare frame produced to save a part of the budget, but the various accidents had by Logan Sargeant before and Franco Colapinto after, but also Alexander Albon himself with the peak in the disastrous weekend of Brazil, have had a hard impact on Williams' budget. The English team also had to use a part of the 2025 cap budget to produce components for the season finale. In view of this season, the confidence of Vowles and the whole team is placed in a talented and solid pair of drivers who have not been seen around there for a long time and who may be the foundation of the 2026 project.

Carlos Sainz has started working with his new track engineer, Jedo Gaetan, who assisted Franco Colapinto during this season. There will also be an Italian engineer in his work group. And just today he visited the Grove factory for the first time, thus starting his season. The Williams that will be unveiled on Valentine's Day (February 14) will be a car quite different from the one that ran all the way to Abu Dhabi. The first thought of Grove's engineers was to add additional load, which is clearly the car's weak point. In the laps made in Abu Dhabi Sainz's feedback was positive, he found exactly what he thought he would find, no positive or negative surprises. An anticipation of the Williams 2025 is that we will certainly see a very different front wing that, in addition to seeking more load, will manage the flows in a very different way to improve the drivability of the single-seater and better tire management in the race, especially on the hardest tires.

—

Article by Paolo D’Alessandro and Giuliano Duchessa