Miami GP: Friday sees a mixed day for Williams F1 Team

By Williams F1 Team
May 2 2026

Friday at the Miami GP would see the Atlassian Williams F1 Team arrive with an updated FW48 with changes across various areas including the floor, sidepods and engine cover. The team had also been able to remove some of the weight that has being affecting the performance of the car since the beginning of the season. And after FP1 the team did seem to be in a fairly positive place with Carlos Sainz 10th & Alex Albon 12th. After the FRiday Sprint qualifying both drivers were positive about the day with Carlos finshing in 14th but unfortunately for Alex his SQ1 time was deleted seeing him drop to 19th. For the team it was very much the case of small improvments but relative to their last race weekend in Japan it did seem to be an improvement.


Atlassian Williams F1 Team Miami GP Sprint Friday Review



	Alex Albon: "Overall, it's been a more positive weekend so far and the car felt in a better place today. We were exploring different philosophies in the extended FP1 but there was still not enough time to test things ahead of the weekend, but this is progress from the team and shows that the upgrades are working. A disappointing end to the day due to track limits, but tonight we will go through the data, dive into the details, and see where we can improve ahead of the Sprint and qualifying tomorrow. It’s still early on in the weekend but we’re making steps forward."

	Carlos Sainz: "This weekend we have taken a step in the right direction compared to previous races, so that’s a positive. Unfortunately, we had energy deployment issues which made me lose valuable tenths in the fight for SQ3. It was frustrating, but I’m positive for tomorrow as we should be able to recover that performance on both the Sprint and qualifying."

	James Vowles Team Principal: "After the last five weeks of work, it is good to see that we are making small improvements relative to the field with both cars into SQ2, but not a perfect day. There was more to come from getting everything absolutely nailed on, and I enjoy that pursuit of every millisecond, so we'll come back fighting tomorrow and see what more we can do."

Miami International Autodrome, USA			Lap Length: 5.412km

Pos	Driver	Team	SQ1	SQ2	SQ3

14	C Sainz	Williams Racing	1:30.988	1:30.216	-
19	A Albon	Williams Racing	Lap time deleted	-	-