Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has declared Williams' season effectively a "write-off" after a miserable opening 11 rounds for the British outfit.
After securing a sensational fifth place in the constructors' championship last year, many anticipated Williams would make a strong start to the new power unit regulations.
The team introduced no major upgrades in 2025 in order to focus fully on the new ruleset, yet has found itself back towards the bottom of the grid.
Williams' season began in the worst possible fashion by missing the pre-season shakedown test in Barcelona, becoming the only team not to attend.
Delays left the Grove-based outfit unable to reach the track on time and, when it finally did, its car was significantly overweight and lacked overall performance.
The situation has resulted in increasing frustration for Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, both of whom have received regular apologies from team principal James Vowles.
Coulthard, a former Williams driver, has not been impressed by what has unfolded at his old team and cannot see it reaching the heights of last year during the second half of the campaign.
"Yeah, look, they got it wrong," Coulthard said on the Up to Speed podcast. "But the mitigating circumstance, as we learn more, is that they got a lot of the information on what they were dealing with from their outside suppliers late, which meant they then had to adjust internally what they were building, and it came out late and heavy. And late and heavy is not a good thing; they missed the first test.
"But the comeback will be sweet, and I think they've got two fantastic drivers. And, yeah, they may not have a lot of points, but for Williams fans around the world, it's been a disappointment.
"This year will be a bit of a write-off in that respect. They're not going to achieve fifth unless they unleash some amazing upgrade, which, given we're in the summer break, I'm not sure they'll do.
"They might get one more upgrade this year, but otherwise all the focus will be on the year ahead."
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