Williams skipped test to remain 'competitive' - Vowles

      "You must allow the pain of failure to inspire change."

      Williams team principal James Vowles has justified the choice to skip the entire Barcelona shakedown week, emphasizing that postponing the FW48 was difficult but essential as the team focuses on competitiveness. During a conversation with AFP on the day Williams revealed its 2026 livery through rendered images instead of a physical launch, Vowles admitted that the decision not to participate in Spain was one of the toughest he has faced since taking the helm at Grove. "One of the hardest choices of my career was to not go to Barcelona," Vowles stated. "Yet, it was the right call. We could have fielded a car there, but it wouldn't have been competitive."

      Williams had initially intended to have a physical launch but had to opt for a virtual reveal due to ongoing delays. Instead of being on track, the car underwent testing on simulator rigs. Vowles recognized that this situation marked another challenging winter for the team undergoing reconstruction, but he asserted that the core philosophy remains solid. "The decisions made in 2025 were correct - investing in the future for 2026," he clarified. "Have we made a substantial improvement from 2025 to 2026? Definitely. Certain aspects of the car are genuinely impressive. Are we at a championship level today? No."

      He was equally frank about managing expectations for the forthcoming year. "Becoming world champion in 2027 is unrealistic," Vowles remarked plainly. Instead, Williams aims to solidify its position within the midfield. "P5 is the baseline I want us to achieve," he said, referring to the team’s constructors' placement in 2025. "However, moving from P5 to P4 is exponentially more challenging, and progressing to P3, P2, P1 is even tougher. The roadmap to P2 or P1 isn't currently planned for 2026. We still have work ahead of us."

      Vowles also emphasized that maintaining driver continuity is crucial to the long-term strategy, mentioning that Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have commitments beyond just one season. "They’ve signed for multiple years because they want to be part of a project," he noted. "That was a commitment I made with them." Reflecting on the delays, Vowles characterized this period as a painful yet necessary revelation of internal vulnerabilities. "I wish we hadn’t had to face these issues so directly to uncover all the weaknesses," he confided. "But if we had understood the limitations of our processes—how we communicate, how we coordinate within the company—we would have modified the schedule sooner."

      "What I find oddly satisfying is that if you sidestep a problem, it doesn't hurt enough to compel thorough solutions. This won’t occur again. You have to let the pain of failure provoke change." Despite missing Barcelona, Vowles is optimistic that Williams can still arrive in Bahrain ready, thanks to extensive simulator and Virtual Track Test (VTT) efforts. "I would have preferred to be in Barcelona," he mentioned. "We aimed to get a head start and didn’t succeed. However, our VTT testing was fruitful, and the work we undertook with Carlos and Alex in the simulator while others were running in Spain was highly beneficial."

      Williams’ longstanding relationship with Mercedes continues to be a significant advantage, particularly as multiple teams adjust to the new power units and gearboxes under the 2026 regulations. "We’re fortunate that Mercedes has enough drivers and teams utilizing their package," Vowles clarified. "We’re receiving an abundance of information on both the power unit and the gearbox, which enables us to prepare for Bahrain." Evaluating the early standings from a distance, Vowles expressed admiration for several competitors. "Red Bull performed exceptionally well, particularly regarding the power unit," he noted. "To create a power unit from scratch and achieve such reliability is remarkable. Ferrari’s consistency is also commendable, even if their ultimate pace remains uncertain. Mercedes, as always, excel at adapting to regulatory changes."

      He remarked that Williams’ situation is different from that of other Mercedes customers, like Alpine, which has recently transitioned to the same power unit and gearbox setup. "I believe Alpine’s learning curve is more challenging than ours," Vowles stated. "We’ve been integrated with Mercedes for a long time and also utilize their gearbox, which distinguishes us from McLaren. This could provide us with an advantage." Nevertheless, he cautioned against making definitive conclusions without track data. "At this point, nobody knows the hierarchy—and I mean nobody," Vowles said. "Especially not us, because we haven’t been on track."