James Vowles and Williams weren’t at the F1 Barcelona Shakedown last week, but they were naturally keeping a close eye on their competitors. Williams skipped the session after struggling to clear FIA crash tests.
James Vowles and Williams weren’t at the F1 Barcelona Shakedown last week, but they were naturally keeping a close eye on their competitors.
Williams skipped the session after struggling to clear FIA crash tests. Instead, Vowles chose to focus on getting ready for Bahrain, where they plan to show up fully prepared later next week.
There was a positive sign for Williams though. Mercedes, their engine supplier, had a strong showing during testing. They were the only team to put in over 500 laps.
Ferrari followed with 440 laps and Lewis Hamilton closed out the final day by posting the fastest time of the week at 1:16.348.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli also picked out Ferrari as one of the top teams in Montmelo.
James Vowles voices doubts over Ferrari’s raw pace
Even with Hamilton’s strong finish, Vowles remains unconvinced about the outright speed of the SF-26. Still, he did acknowledge that Ferrari ran through the test without any major hiccups.
For him, the main positives were Red Bull, who combined with Racing Bulls to rack up more than 600 laps on their debut power unit, and Mercedes.
Mercedes got into race simulations early on. The only real interruptions came from red flags caused by other teams, highlighting just how smoothly things went for them overall.
“I’ve been really impressed with Red Bull, especially on the power unit side,” Vowles said at Williams’ Tuesday launch via The Race. “To do a power unit from scratch and turn up to be that reliable is mighty. Well done to them.
“Number two, Ferrari’s consistency. Perhaps the outright pace is in question, but the consistency is really impressive for them again from the get-go.
“And Mercedes always. I’ve been there for a long time; they’re very good at getting regulation change right and walking out with a package that’s just robust and reliable. But if you are doing a race sim just about a day into testing, it’s very impressive.”
Could Williams Outpace Ferrari When the 2026 F1 Season Begins?
Flavio Briatore has no doubts about the Mercedes engine under the new regulations, and when he decided to shut down Alpine’s works programme, he was only interested in buying power units from Brixworth.
If Mercedes’ fuel innovation lives up to its reputation, and Williams don’t lose too much ground from missing Barcelona, there’s a real chance they could jump ahead of both Ferrari and Red Bull in the early running order.
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Category: General Sports
