Team principal James Vowles says Williams are "not out of the woods" despite an upturn in form in recent races.
Williams, who finished seventh in the constructors' championship in 2023, had a difficult start to the season, scoring points only twice in the first 15 grands prix.
Their problems were a consequence of Vowles' decision to "break so many systems" that had been in place at the team, to try to improve their performance after years of underachievement.
Since an upgrade was put on the car at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Williams drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto have scored points three times in three races and quadrupled the team's previous tally.
Vowles said: "Are we past the worst of it? Yes. Are we out of the woods? No.
"This isn't success today. It's just better than where we were before. Success is really being at the sharp end of the grid and we are nowhere near the end of that journey. We’re really starting it, I'm afraid.
"But I would also say that everything we have gone through has built a set of foundations that mean we won't go back there again."
Williams' upturn in form has led to a seventh place for Albon in Azerbaijan and a ninth in Italy, and an eighth in Baku for Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sergeant when the American was sacked after the Dutch race for lack of pace and too many accidents.
At the start of the season the team were short of parts as a result of structural and operational changes at the factory that delayed the car-build process, and a series of accidents for Albon and Sargeant.
Vowles says: "A disaster would be a strong word but an adequate word for describing where we were. We weren't scoring points. We moved backwards relative to our position in 2023.
"We did not do a good enough job. I knew there were risks involved. But we are here to develop our journey in the way we are not going to make baby steps any more. We are going to make large leaps and bounds and we are going to trip ourselves up on the way."
The biggest issue slowing Williams early this year was that the car was overweight, as a result of compromise car-build decisions that had to be made over the winter because of the impact of the changes being imposed on the team.
"The main thing is that the set of decisions that led to us being in that awkward situation at the beginning of the year are the same set of decisions that led us to where we are today, which is making sure we're challenging everything in the status quo, making sure we are developing the car at a scale we haven't done previously," Vowles said.
"So it would be surprising to say that where we are today is no different to where we were in the winter in terms of decision-making, it's just the set of outcomes are different as well.
"The car is competitive. It has been all season long, it's just the weight hid it. A lot of [the progress] is weight being taken out of the car. The second is, the way we are developing the car aerodynamically, I can't tell you for a fact is different to other teams up and down the grid, but what I can say to you is when we add performance to the car, it is translating."
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