Dave Robson, Williams' head of car performance, believes the improvements to the 2024 Formula 1 automotive could set the benchmark for next 12 months's equipment.
The Grove-based team have struggled to take care of last season’s good form, starting the present campaign with an overloaded automotive and specializing in infrastructure upgrades over the winter.
While the automotive will undergo refinements throughout the season to supply immediate improvements, teams are forced to develop a resource strategy as a consequence of Formula 1 aerodynamic testing restrictions and financial regulations.
The situation will grow to be much more complicated over the following 18 months as attention turns to the brand new regulations for 2026, meaning teams could determine to sacrifice next 12 months's competition to be able to gain a bonus with their latest cars.
“It’s an interesting challenge that we’ve been talking about for a while,” Robson said.
“There are certain elements of '26 that we are able to have a look at, not only the aerodynamic side of things which might be dictated by the regulations, but there are other things that we are able to start to think about and that process is already underway, inevitably.
“The aerodynamics will come, although we managed to do a little bit of aerodynamics for the TD with the FIA, they really help to grasp the regulations. So that’s all the time useful to only get everyone into the sport for 2026.
“But balancing resources not only from now but from the next few months to the next few years will be difficult, but of course it is the same for everyone and I am sure most people will be fully focused on 2026 very soon when the new year comes and then it will be interesting to see what people do next year.”
Logan Sergeant, Williams FW46
Photo: Zak Mauger / Motorsports images
On the timing front, Robson added: “I believe there can be short periods early in the following calendar 12 months when the 2026 automotive comes out of the wind tunnel, which can give us a chance to check the FW47 automotive again for a day or two, which is the 2025 automotive.
“We will want to do this and if we are able to discover a option to improve performance without compromising the 2026 programme, then after all we’ll try to do this.
“But I suspect it will be done really quite early in the calendar year and it will be full from a resource and budget standpoint, for a 2026 car.”
Knowing that priorities will change so early within the 12 months offers the potential to mix the 2024 and 2025 projects to higher maximise development advantages, something Robson confirmed he’s considering.
He said: “It was an interesting experience because I actually think this 12 months’s automotive and next 12 months’s automotive may be treated as one project.
“It will finish quite early next 12 months and there can be a case of racing it but not doing an excessive amount of with it. That, partly by accident I believe, allowed us to think about these big updates that were coming and produce them in quite late within the 12 months, knowing that they might effectively not less than encourage or grow to be a benchmark for next 12 months’s automotive.
“That's already starting to ease some of the workload. We've moved some of the work on the FW47 forward, which will allow us to focus on the 2026 car as quickly as possible.”
