James Vowles: Williams Hungarian GP issues expected to return for Qatar

Williams team principal James Vowles has given insight into why the team struggled during the Hungarian Grand Prix and revealed that he expects similar challenges in Qatar.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz both finished outside of the points in Budapest in 15th and 14th, respectively.

“So, Budapest, if you look at a track map, you see it quite quickly," Vowles explained during The Vowles Verdict. "There's a lot of corners that are quite rounded where you go into the corner and you have sustained lateral g for a long period of time, and it's a weakness that we highlighted back in Barcelona."

The team chief confessed that the Grove outfit expects to face the same challenges in the Qatar Grand Prix, which is set for 28-30 November.

"It's a weakness that I think will be there in Qatar for transparency as well," he continued. "But it's an element of our car that we know is a weakness, but it's not something we'll invest in and fix in 2025."

Formula 1 will see a new wave of regulations in 2026 which introduce a 50/50 split between electric power and the internal combustion engine on sustainable fuels. As a result, the teams are placing a significant amount of focus on next year's car rather than continuing development with the current 2025 cars.

Alexander Albon, Williams

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"It's something we very much look forward to '26 and have some aspects of the car that are fixing this. But as already mentioned a long time ago, our focus is on next year and beyond, and we don't want to invest precious resources into fixing a few circuits in 2025.”

Although Williams has been focusing on its 2026 season challenger, it has started 2025 on a strong note. Sainz joined the team at the start of the year after being replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.

At the point of the summer break, the British team sits fifth in the constructors' championship with 70 points, with an 18-point gap to Aston Martin in sixth. Albon sits eighth in the drivers' standings with 54 points, and Sainz is 16th with 16 points.