Bizarre! Williams' 'biggest issue' with new F1 car revealed

Alex Albon has shed light on the scale of the issues facing Williams after a disastrous qualifying session in China.

Both Albon and team-mate Carlos Sainz failed to advance out of the opening qualifying segment of the weekend, securing starting positions towards the rear of the field.

The Grove-based squad faced various concerns on the build-up to the 2026 season and has been unable to continue the momentum that lifted it to fifth in the standings at the end of last year.

Following his early elimination, Albon revealed that among the issues, the biggest limitation facing Williams is the car losing contact with the track surface through certain corners.

“There is some weird stuff going on in the car,” Albon told media including RacingNews365.

“We've done set up changes and pit lane starts throughout the weekend I think I'm going to do another one tomorrow just to keep going and keep learning. 

“At the minute, nothing we do seems to fix the car. [I thought] this track would expose us normally, but this is a bit more than I would expect.

“We're going in areas that we've never been before. And to be honest with you, I would keep going and do more steps on that. 

“I'm sure the Cadillac is quicker than us in quite a few corners. I'm just so I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. 

“The biggest issue at the minute is three-wheeling, the car three-wheeling.”

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Williams 'can't hide' behind overweight excuse

The Williams entry is also known to be overweight, which is also a significant factor in its lack of pace so far this year.

However, Albon insisted that the team can't solely use the weight as an excuse for its deficit.

“We can't hide behind the weight, because at the end of the day, there are other cars that are not on weight in the midfield,” he said.

“Maybe not as much as we are - definitely not as much as we are - but they're still overweight.

“And the deficit we have to these teams is not just that. There are a lot of balance issues in the car. 

“It's an accumulation of things. We said it before, the weight is one thing, there are also plans, in conjunction with the weight loss, to get the car a bit more in balance and also our downforce fixed.”