巴库站B-spec成败参半，威廉姆斯下一步何去何从
威廉姆斯在阿塞拜疆大奖赛迎来了褒贬不一的周末：车队2026年首次晋级第三节排位赛，却因塞恩斯受罚未能以此位置起步，虽然凭借一些运气拿下摩纳哥站以来的首个积分，但阿尔本发生撞车退赛。
巴库站B-spec成败参半，威廉姆斯下一步何去何从
威廉姆斯备受期待的B-spec赛车在阿塞拜疆大奖赛是虚有其表，还是通过了车队的考验、成为迈向2027年更大进步的跳板？
安东内利（梅赛德斯）、塞恩斯（威廉姆斯）
如果要给"成败参半"下一个定义，那正是巴库周末之于威廉姆斯的写照。车队2026年首次晋级Q3，但由于塞恩斯的正赛罚退而未能以此位置起步。车队凭借一些运气拿下摩纳哥站以来的首个积分，但也目睹阿尔本撞车退赛。
阿塞拜疆是威廉姆斯日历上被红圈标出的关键周末，因为车队终于为FW48带来了升级，而这辆赛车已经数月缺乏有分量的改进了。格罗夫车队拿出了全新的底盘，终于达到了规定重量，还带来了新的底板和其他空气动力学部件。
这辆赛车在第二次自由练习中的长距离节奏看起来令人鼓舞，打开了一扇尘封已久的大门，让它回到了包括哈斯、小红牛和奥迪在内的中游集团的水平。
在排位赛中，塞恩斯拿下第九，但因发车罚退滑落到第14位，排在阿尔本身后。从车阵尾部来看，期待已久的得分机会似乎就要落空，直到弗兰科·科拉平托在重启时撞掉了皮埃尔·加斯利和兰多·诺里斯。
“带来这个周末的升级是一次巨大的努力，能带着一个积分离开让人欣慰，”车队领队詹姆斯·沃尔斯说。“可以看到，我们在第一段长距离中没有节奏，我们需要深挖并弄清楚原因，因为那是比赛中我们无法取得推进的关键环节。”
获得第十名的一分是对工厂里所有辛勤工作的回报，但威廉姆斯的B版赛车真的达到了预期吗？“我认为这正是我们预期的提升幅度，”阿尔本坚持说。“说句公道话，也许我们没预料到能进第三节排位赛（Q3）。但没错，它让我们回到了中游集团的争夺中。”
塞恩斯补充道：“我们的初步感觉是赛车确实快了一点。但我们之前落后太多，即使带来了这么大的升级包，仍然感觉像是在拼命追赶。所以正如所说，在速度方面没有大的惊人惊喜，是一次稳健的进步。”
还有一个附加因素：巴库是真正适合威廉姆斯的赛道，而马来西亚的雪邦和新加坡街道赛却不能这么说——这两条赛道对下压力的要求要高得多。所以，带着一个积分和一次退赛离开，感觉至少错过了机会的一半，如果这意味着威廉姆斯在这三连赛的剩余部分会再次退步的话。
“这条赛道，即使没有升级，也会有利于我们，”阿尔本说。“马来西亚会很有参考价值，能看出我们在一条更注重下压力的赛道上处于什么位置。我们现在也有几天时间来真正理解这套升级包。”
"如果你从大局来看，我们会通过优化让赛车变得更快。但相对于其他车队我们会更慢，因为那条赛道不适合我们。预计我们在马来西亚会退步，然后在新加坡也许能处于中间位置。"
至于阿尔本在第31圈引发安全车的撞车事故，他承认是自己刹车过晚冲过了弯，但也认为这进一步暴露了威廉姆斯的一个关键弱点，而且这个弱点在新旧规则下都一直存在。
"这很奇怪，"他解释道，"我刹车稍微晚了一点，但没晚多少。然后突然来了一阵大风。我以为我会跑宽一点，但从没想到会撞上护墙。"
"我确信在这种情况下我必须主动认错，但与此同时我们之前也遇到过这些问题。我们知道我们的赛车容易抬起前轮，出现三轮着地的情况。我们知道当刹车稍微晚一点时，就可能暴露出这种三轮着地的风险。而有时候一旦发生，前轮抱死对我们赛车造成的代价是巨大的。这种事就是会发生。"
“可以肯定的是，阵风加上同时刹车过晚，赛车就刚好被推过了临界点。超出并不多，只差几米，但这已经太多了。”
或许更合理的看法是，把重新设计底盘同时提升空气动力学性能的过程，当作对车队的一次压力测试。这也是沃尔斯收集证据的一次机会，证明这支位于格罗夫的车队如今比12个月前更有能力推出新部件，同时也是一种纠偏方式，为逐渐展开的2027年赛车项目铺路。
由于新底盘预计会沿用至2027赛季，这意味着一项大工程已经提前完成了。
“我有信心，你们会看到我们现在向前迈进一步，因为那次重大的规则改动已经过去了，”沃尔斯接受天空体育采访时说，“明年还会有一次空气动力学改动和一次动力单元改动。但改动幅度较小，所以我们能够消化。”
“但要追上这个冬天发生的种种混乱，还需要一点时间。我从中得到的真正教训是，我们需要更多的投资，才能仅仅具备跟上前面车队的实力。而成本上限限制了我们的这种投入。”
“（这次升级）方向上是对的。我认为更重要的是，它是我们为明年打下的基础。我们承认今年的进度已经有些落后了，很遗憾，但在迈向2027年之前还有很多工作要做。”
英文原文
What's next for Williams after Baku B-spec yields mixed fortunes
Did Williams' much-vaunted B-spec at the Azerbaijan GP flatter to deceive or has it passed the team's test as a stepping stone to bigger 2027 progress?
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Carlos Sainz, Williams
If there is a definition of a mixed bag, that's what the Baku weekend was to Williams. It progressed to Q3 for the first time in 2026, but didn't start there due to a grid penalty for Carlos Sainz. It scored points for the first time since Monaco, with some fortune, but also saw Alex Albon crash out.
Azerbaijan was a key weekend circled in red on Williams' calendar as it finally upgraded an FW48 starved of significant improvements for months. The Grove team wheeled out an all-new chassis, which was finally on the required weight, as well as a new floor and other aerodynamic parts.
The car's long run pace in FP2 looked encouraging, unlocking a long-shut door to the midfield ballpark that includes the likes of Haas, Racing Bulls and Audi.
In qualifying, Sainz claimed ninth but a grid penalty dumped him back to 14th behind Albon. From the belly of the pack it was looking like a long-awaited chance to score points went begging until Franco Colapinto took out Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris at a restart.
"It's been a mammoth effort to bring the update that we have here this weekend and it's nice to walk away with a point," said team principal James Vowles. "You can see we didn't have the pace on that first stint, and we need to dig and understand that because that was a critical part of the race where we weren't able to make progress."
The point for 10th was a reward for all the hard work in the factory, but did the Williams B-spec really deliver as much as hoped? "I think it's exactly the step we expected," Albon insisted. "Maybe we didn't expect Q3, to be fair to you. But yes, it put us in a midfield fight."
Sainz added: "Our initial feel is that the car feels just a bit quicker. But we were so far away that even though we've been bringing such a big upgrade, it still feels like we are playing a lot of catch-up. So as promised, no big massive surprises in terms of pace, a healthy step forward."
An additional factor is that Baku was a real Williams track, which can't be said from Malaysia's Sepang and the Singapore street circuit which will put a much bigger emphasis on downforce. So, coming away with a point and a DNF feels like at least half of a missed opportunity if it means Williams will regress again over the remainder of the triple header.
"This track, even without the upgrade, it would have favoured us," Albon said. "Malaysia will be telling to see where we are on a much more downforce-focused circuit. We've also got now a few days to actually understand the package.
"If you look at the big picture, we'll make the car go faster in terms of optimising it. But we'll be slower relative to the rest of the field, because that track will not suit us. Expect us to fall back in Malaysia, and then maybe in Singapore we can come somewhere in between."
As far as Albon's crash is concerned, which brought out the safety car on lap 31, he took responsibility for outbraking himself but felt it also further exposed of a key Williams weakness which has carried over across regulations.
"It was odd," he explained. "I braked a little bit later, but not much later. Then we had a big wind gust. I thought I would run a little bit wide, but I never thought I would hit the wall.
"I'm sure I have to hold my hand up in that situation, but at the same time we've had these issues before. We know our car likes to lift the front wheel and we three-wheel. We know when we brake a little bit late, we can expose ourselves to that three-wheeling. And sometimes when it does that, the penalty for front locking is huge on our car. It happens.
"For sure, with the wind gust and braking late at the same time, it just tips it over the edge. It wasn't a huge amount; it was a few metres, but that's too much."
Perhaps it is more constructive to view the process of redesigning its chassis while adding aero performance as a stress test for the team. And a round of evidence gathering for Vowles that the Grove-based squad is now more capable of bringing through new parts than it was 12 months ago, and a way to course correct as the 2027 car project gathers steam.
With the latest chassis expected carry over into the 2027 campaign, that's already one big-ticket item out of the way.
"I'm confident you're going to see us stepping forward now that that big rule change is behind us," Vowles told Sky. "There's an aero change for next year, there's a power unit change for next year. But it's smaller in size so we can absorb it.
"But it's going to take a little bit of time to catch up on the mess that's happened this winter. My real learning from it is we need a lot more investment to bring us just the ability to keep up with those in front. And the cost cap restrains us from doing that.
"[The upgrade] is directionally right. I think more importantly, it's the foundation we wanted to set ourselves for next year. We recognise this year's a little bit behind us, unfortunately, but there's a lot to do in going into 2027."
Motorsport.com ·
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