Is the FW48, Williams’ new car, actually overweight or not? Rumours about the weight of the team’s 2026 challenger circulated after the squad chose not to take part in the shakedown in Barcelona. Team principal James Vowles, however, isn’t concerned about any excess mass: the car currently sits just 4.4 kg above the minimum allowed weight — “Nobody knows — and I mean really nobody — what the pecking order is”.
Williams were the only team to skip the shakedown in Barcelona. The British outfit opted out of the test week to concentrate on a broader preparation for the 2026 season. Speculation started — not least about the weight of the brand-new car — and several sources claimed the FW48 would weigh significantly more than the regulation minimum of 768 kg. At the team’s season launch last Tuesday, team principal James Vowles put the rumours to bed.
Williams confirms that their 2026 car weighs 772.4 kilograms – just 4.4 kg over the allowed minimum. The FW48 is therefore only 0.4 kg heavier than the W17, Mercedes‘ 2026 car. “When it comes to weight, it’s hard to say anything until two race cars have been built that meet the correct specifications,” Vowles said at the season launch. “But even then, the question is: does that prevent us from being competitive now? Nobody knows – and I really mean nobody – what the pecking order is, especially not us, because we haven’t been to the circuit yet, so it’s difficult for me to answer that question.”
‘We’ll only know in Bahrain’
The Williams team principal does promise his stable will take an “aggressive approach” if the Bahrain test days show weight is holding Williams back. “We’ll only know exactly how much the weight is in Bahrain,” the Brit continued. “There is no one who really knows that. It’s impossible to know, because you need the car fitted with sensors and in the correct trim for that, and that car doesn’t exist today. If we ultimately end up above the target weight, from that moment we’ll deploy an aggressive programme to reduce weight. But I think everything you hear in the media right now is just rumours.”
