Williams team principal James Vowles has stated the Grove-based squad has been suffering from “20 years” of underinvestment.
Williams targeted the 2026 regulation overhaul as an opportunity to move itself out of the midfield pack it has been stuck in for so long.
After finishing fifth in last year's championship, it had high hopes for the sport's new era - but instead, it slipped in the pecking order and is currently languishing towards the rear of the field.
Vowles has previously spoken about the team's resources compared to rival teams as the reason for its poor start to the new campaign.
The Briton has shed further light on the struggles, insisting the team is feeling the repercussions of the decisions taken in the past.
“We're not going to fix Williams in 12 months,” Vowles told media including RacingNews365. “It's not going to happen. It's 20 years worth of underinvestment.
“With the cost cap, which is one of the best rules we've made, what I'm doing right now is putting a lot of cost cap dollars into fixing problems that other teams don't have.
“It shouldn't be a surprise to any of you that the top four teams pull away from everyone else when you get a regulation change, because that stresses the system entirely.
“You're seeing the negative side of a cost cap as well, you bulk in what's happened 20 years before that.”
Vowles has insisted that the decisions he is taking to put fixes in place are future-proof and not simply a plaster for a short-term gain.
“We're not going to dig out every single problem that's happened in one year,” he added.
"We will, however, make sure that every decision we're doing is the right one for our long-term success.
“If I made all the decisions that were right for next year just to save myself or save a driver, it would mean you get a small spike and then you go backwards again.
“Every decision we're making is the right decision for this team for the next five years, not for one year.
“That may mean that we're not getting the success rate we want to across 2027, but it will mean that across the next five years we're moving forward.”
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