Chinese GP: Fantastic points result for Williams F1 Team


By Williams F1 Team
March 15 2026

After what was a disappointing qualifying the expectations for the 2026 Chinese GP for the Atlassian Williams F1 Team were not that high. The fact that Alex Albon would suffer a hydraulic issue and would not start the race as planned from the pit lane added to this feeling prior to the race start. But the remaining car of Carlos Sainz woud produce a fantastic performance to firstly make a great start form 17th and then slowly make his way forward. Yes he did gain from the misfortune of other drivers but regardless Carlos put in a well executed drive making into ninth. At one stage he had a fast closing Colapinto but was able to hold him off to the finish. So with the two points it places Williams equal to Audi in the championship. 

 
 Atlassian Williams F1 Team Chinese GP Race Review
 
Sainz
 
Albon

Alex Albon:
"There’s not much to take away from today as on the laps to grid we identified a hydraulic problem that resulted in me not being able to start the race. We were hoping we might be able to get back on track at some point to get some laps in and shake down the car again before Japan, but unfortunately we couldn’t fix the problem in time. We need to go through our issues and feedback with a fine tooth comb and we need to understand our reliability problems in able to find more performance. As a team it’s important to separate what’s in our control and what’s not and we need to pull together for Japan in just two weeks time. The silver lining is that Carlos was able to bag a few points for the team today, and a big congrats to Kimi on his first win."
 
Sainz

Carlos Sainz:
"It feels good to get some points here in China thanks to a strong start, effective tyre management and good defending at the end of the race against Colapinto. We know we’re not in a position to score points on pure pace at this point in the season, but we got everything else right today and that's what made the difference. We need to be proud of maximising everything and I hope that these points bring motivation to the entire team, here at the track and back in Grove. Everyone is making a huge effort and we need to keep digging deep over the next few weeks to bring more performance to the car. Vamos!"
 
Vowles

James Vowles, Team Principal:
"Incredible drive from Carlos to bring the car home and secure our first points of the season. Well done to him. He was faultless from start to finish and deserved those points today. With Alex we suffered a hydraulic issue on the laps to grid which meant that ultimately the car was unable to start the race. We clearly aspire to be more. We know we're not where the car needs to be performance-wise and we have plans across the next few months to remedy that. We know what we need to do reliability-wise and those are items that we need to get on top of with immediate effect because we have two top drivers and I believe both could have been in the points today."
 
Sainz
 
Sainz
 
Track: Shanghai International Circuit, China | 5.451km
Pos Driver Summary
 
DNS A Albon • DNS
9 C Sainz  • Points: 2
• Started: P17
• Strategy: Medium to Hard (1 stop)
• Fastest lap: 1:37.981
 
Sainz
 

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Chinese GP: Fantastic points result for Williams F1 Team
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 15/03/2026 11:01
Williams F1
15/03/2026 11:01
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Karson
21/03/2026 21:39
It was good to see Sainz scoring some points but Williams are surely better than this. Both drivers should be scoring points in each race.

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Williams222
22/03/2026 02:14
You have to remember both McLaren's didn't start this race if they did I think Williams would not have got any points for this race.....Yes I agree Karson Williams are surely better than this.

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Williams222
22/03/2026 02:18
What did Sainz finish 9th? If the two McLaren's raced Sainz would have finished outside the points in 11th....This is sad because Sainz only lucked into P9.

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