Williams confirms Bahrain test attendance and addresses FW48 rumours

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, although missing the test was far from intentional.

“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.”

The car, Vowles clarified, could have been tested in Barcelona, but the extent of the exertion to make that happen meant that the team risked further disruption to its pre-season plans.

“In terms of Barcelona, we could have made Barcelona testing – simple as that,” he said.

“We could have made it, but in doing so, I would have to turn upside down the impact on spares, components and updates across Bahrain, Melbourne and beyond.

“The evaluation of it was that for running in a cold, damp Barcelona, against doing a VTT test, against the spare situation, and frankly, there was zero points for running in a shakedown test, we made the decision.

“I stand by it that the right thing to do is to make sure we’re turning up in Bahrain correctly prepared and prepared in Melbourne as well.”

Did the FW48 fail crash tests?

One of the prevailing rumours about the FW48 delay has been that the car has, or hadn’t, passed the mandatory FIA crash and stress tests in time to make it to Barcelona.

Amidst those rumours, 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.”

Vowles conspicuously did not deny the possibility that the new chassis could be overweight, but said there is not yet a figure, even internally, available to quantify just how much over the new limit the FW48 may be.

With the cars set to be 30kg lighter than the 2025 machines, the process of creating the chassis was “three times” as complicated as prior car designs and builds, which has resulted in some parts running late.

“There’s no knowledge of the weight until we get to Bahrain in terms of understanding where it is,” he said.

“There’s not a single person who will truly know it. It’s impossible to know it, because you need the car together with sensors in the right form. And that doesn’t exist today.

“If we end up being over the weight target, then from that point on, it’ll be an aggressive programme to get it off.

“But I think right now, anything that you’re seeing as murmurings in the media is murmurings.

“I’ll come out and explain to everyone at the point where we know that. That isn’t today.”

He also did not clarify an exact timeline of when the FW48 had passed the crash tests prior to the Barcelona shakedown.

Vowles said Williams gradually fell behind schedule as the reality of the 2026 car project became clear, describing it as three times as complicated as anything Williams has ever produced before, which led to parts being late.

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How Williams is benefiting from VTT test

As part of its preparations for the season, despite missing the Barcelona shakedown, Williams confirmed that it would run a virtual test during the days rival teams have been out on a real racetrack.

Offering some insight into how the team is benefitting from this, 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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