Williams will be ready to test at the first Bahrain event in two weeks’ time, with the Grove-based squad having missed the first shakedown in Barcelona.
Williams was the only team not to make it to the first test of 2026, the collective private shakedown being held behind closed doors in Barcelona.
James Vowles: Williams missing Barcelona test ‘incredibly painful’
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Immediately prior to the Barcelona test, Williams confirmed that it would not attend the event at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having encountered delays in its car build process.
Speaking to select media, including PlanetF1.com, team boss James Vowles explained that the delays had been encountered as a result of the whole squad pushing the boundaries of performance.
“It clearly wasn’t our plan, and it’s incredibly painful, but I do want it to be acknowledged as the result of our determination to push the limits of performance under the new regulations,” he said.
“We are transforming here in Williams, and fast. One of the tasks that has been on my shoulders for a few years is making sure we transform this business at the absolute maximum rate possible.
“And in my experience, the only way you achieve that is by pushing the boundaries and limits hard and aggressively and finding your limitations.
“There’s no point being just underneath the curve or underneath the curve. If you want to transform at speed, you need to find the pain points and put them right very quickly, which is exactly what we’re doing.
“I’m confident in our decision to miss Barcelona, and I’m confident it was the right one to prepare for the first test in Bahrain and Melbourne.”
Amidst rumours that the FW48 chassis hasn’t passed the mandatory FIA crash tests, Vowles confirmed the car is ready for testing.
“I’m pleased to say that we’ve passed all necessary tests, and we’re ready to run in Bahrain,” he said.
“We’ll carry out a promotional filming day ahead of it. We’re also carrying out the VTT (virtual test track) as a physical car test, which will continue into tomorrow [Thursday].
“We’ve been running that pretty much in tandem to Barcelona, and everyone here in Grove is working absolutely flat out with incredible passion and dedication to get us ready. We’re really looking forward to getting back on track.”
As for how the VTT is offering Williams some valuable learnings, despite missing out on the Barcelona test, Vowles said, “It is really pretty much most of the physical car.
“You don’t have wings bolted to it, but you have the chassis, the engine, the gearbox, you test use a brake robot, so you test your braking systems at the same time, so you have all of the brakes fitted.
“What you’re doing is characterising your cooling system, understanding where that is running, the engine, gearbox, etc, under load.
“So you don’t have dynamic cornering loads, but you can mimic having two cars in front of you, one car in front of you, no cars in front of you. You can mimic being in Singapore, or being in Bahrain, or being in a four-degree Silverstone weather condition.
“What you can do, especially in tandem with those running in Barcelona, is run the same code base that they’re running on the PU and the gearbox to understand the effects, but in a more controlled environment than they are.
“So you still get learning on various systems, energy, and ECU, as a result of it. So it’s an invaluable learning, but it is not the same as running on track.
“It’s just a good use of time.”
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