Vowles confident Williams won’t start F1 season ‘on the back foot’

Williams may have missed the first public glimpse of Formula 1’s bold new era, but inside the team’s Grove headquarters the mood is anything but gloomy.

Team boss James Vowles is projecting calm confidence that, despite early production delays and an absence from last week’s Barcelona shakedown, the British squad will not arrive at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix “on the back foot.”

While rival teams rolled out their freshly minted 2026 machinery in Spain, Williams instead focused on preparation behind closed doors – and Vowles believes that quieter route may yet pay dividends when the lights go out in Melbourne next month.

Barcelona Absence, But Not Standing Still

Williams were the only outfit missing from F1’s first collective pre-season outing, officially citing delays in the FW48 programme as the team continued to fine-tune its preparations than rush an incomplete car to the track.

On the surface, it appeared a setback. Behind the scenes, however, engineers and drivers were far from idle.

Instead of clocking laps in Catalonia, the team embarked on an intensive Virtual Track Testing programme, pairing digital simulations with extended work in their cutting-edge driver-in-loop simulator.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon spent long hours improving systems in a virtual environment designed to mirror real-world conditions as closely as possible.

Vowles did not hide his disappointment at missing the Spanish running, but he framed the situation as a strategic detour rather than a crisis.

“I would have much preferred to have been in Barcelona. That was the goal, that was what we were intending to do, and we did not achieve it,” he said.

“However, what we did in terms of a week’s worth of VTT that was successful, and what we’ve been doing with both Carlos [Sainz] and Alex [Albon] on the driver-in-loop simulator in tandem, whilst everyone else was in Barcelona…

• Read also: Williams unveils bold new 2026 livery for FW48

“In addition, and we are fortunate that Mercedes had sufficient runners, so there was quite a bit of information coming back on the gearbox and power unit that enables us to get ahead when we come to Bahrain, which means I do not believe with six days of testing we’ll be on the back foot.

“A little bit of that is fortune, because the engine and the power unit is reliable, the gearbox is reliable, and the VTT testing flushed out a lot of the demons that are buried in the car.”

Eyes on Bahrain – And Beyond

With two official pre-season tests scheduled in Bahrain later this month, Williams still have valuable track time ahead. Vowles openly acknowledges that no simulator can fully replace real asphalt, yet he believes the groundwork already laid will soften the impact of their delayed debut.

He was candid about what virtual work cannot replicate.

“What’s missing is there’s a lot of knowledge for the drivers to inherently perfect what’s going on on track,” he explained.

“What’s missing is a correlation for where our aerodynamics really are, and a correlation for where our vehicle dynamics really are – track data is the only way of establishing that.

“So, there is a loss, but with six days of testing, with our driver-in-loop simulator – that we invested in, is state-of-the-art, and I’m very confident this is the benchmark in the business – up and running at the end of last year, we are able to mitigate a lot of those.”

The emphasis is not on denial of disadvantage, but on mitigation – turning lost mileage into a challenge that can be managed rather than feared. In a sport where margins are measured in thousandths of a second, that mindset can be as crucial as horsepower.

Building Momentum, Not Illusions

Williams enter the new campaign on the back of tangible progress, having climbed to fifth in last season’s Teams’ Championship – their strongest showing in years.

Yet Vowles is careful to balance optimism with realism. The next step up the grid, he insists, will demand even greater courage and precision.

“We’re not naïve about the challenge ahead of us or the challenge that’s amongst us right now,” he commented. “The jump from fifth to fourth is in my experience exponentially more difficult than what we’ve already achieved.

“The only way to achieve that against competitors who themselves are striving and moving forward, is simply by pushing the absolute boundaries and being brave in the decisions you’re making.

“We don’t expect to be fighting for the championship, but we do expect that 2025 is our new established baseline, and to keep moving the business forward year on year from then onwards.

“Nobody, and I’m sure you realise this as well, really knows what’s going to happen in Melbourne. There’s a development race, and it depends on what parts people bring, but also it looks interesting, certainly in the top five.

“Our key point at the moment is to make sure that we push like mad, catch up, go to Bahrain with our heads held high, and keep moving forward.”

In the ever-spinning carousel of Formula 1 expectations, Williams’ message is clear: the journey back to the sharp end is a marathon, not a sprint.

Barcelona may have passed without a Williams car on track, but the team’s belief – and their boss’s buoyant tone – suggest that when Melbourne arrives, they intend to show up not apologetic, but prepared.

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