Williams boss Vowles ‘not concerned at all’ at missing test

Williams team principal James Vowles says he is “not concerned at all” about missing the first pre-season test last week.

Delays in the production of their new car made Williams the only team not to make it to the test at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Vowles acknowledged that missing the test was “a deficit” because Williams had not been able to gain experience of the complexities of energy management in the new engines being introduced this year.

Rivals have said that on-track running is invaluable in learning how to manage the new power-units. These have three times more power in the electrical part of the hybrid engines this year and are energy starved as a result.

Vowles was talking as Williams launched their new livery with pictures of what the team described as “essentially a simplified version of the 2026 car, not the FW48 (itself)”.

He said that the six days of running over the remaining two pre-season tests in Bahrain later this month should give Williams time to gather the data they need, and that being a Mercedes engine customer also came with benefits.

“That is an advantage we have to acknowledge, as opposed to perhaps Aston (Martin) with just Honda and one team as a result of it,” Vowles said.

“There is learning, however, in driving style, adapting to the new energy systems. That’s a lot of what you can see right now being talked about.

Vowles joined Williams three years ago charged with returning the team to the front of Formula 1, and made progress with a fifth-place finish in the constructors’ championship last year.

This is the third time in seven years, however, in which delays in the car-build process have affected Williams’ early-season plans.

Vowles said: “I’ve seen elements in ’23. I’ve seen what’s happened this year, and they’re not the same. The particular one this year is the complexity of the car.”

Of the car itself, he added: “The front (suspension) wishbone is quite an impressive design and where it is and how it’s effectively constructed is pushing the boundaries of what we’ve done before as a business.

“But we haven’t moved all parts of the business on at the same level and fleshed it out to that level to understand where we’re going to break it. That’s what I’m seeing now at this stage.

“You only know your boundaries by absolutely pushing every boundary possible. I absolutely believe in what I would call intelligent failure. And you get there by effectively pushing the boundaries of what you’re doing. And what we did was exactly that this year.

Vowles said he did not expect Williams to be able to challenge at the front this season.

They have retained the same drivers, with British-Thai Alex Albon partnered by Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Albon finished eighth in the 2025 drivers’ championship, one place and nine points ahead of Sainz, who managed two third-placed finishes in Azerbaijan and Qatar.

“We want to establish 2025 as our new base and keep moving forward year on year across the board and across the business,” he said.

“There are some bits of the car that are absolutely championship level. And there’s other bits where we have a long way to go before we’re there, including just getting the car built and finished as a polished article. That doesn’t lead to podiums or wins.”

Vowles said he had been impressed by the amount of running completed by Ferrari and the Red Bull teams. Red Bull were running the first engine produced by their new in-house facility, and he said Mercedes “came out of the box strong”.

He also became the latest rival to shower praise on the design of the new Aston Martin, their first car under the leadership of design legend Adrian Newey.

“I wouldn’t want to be a designer in Aston Martin. That’s a very impressive set of wishbones on that car. Really, really intrinsic or interesting design.”

Mercedes driver George Russell made the same observation at their official launch on Monday.

“What Adrian has done with that car, it looks pretty spectacular,” Russell said.