James Vowles has affirmed that Williams will be on-track in Bahrain for the F1 2026 pre-season test, as he addressed the rumours around crash test.
Having missed the Barcelona shakedown and rumours swirling about its preparedness, Williams chief Vowles spoke to selected media to address various speculation and also released a video detailing its plans ahead. The biggest talking point has been the FIA crash tests.
Vowles revealed that Williams has passed all the required crash tests and is ready to hit the track for the Bahrain F1 pre-season test. In fact, the Brit noted that they could have opted to run in Barcelona as well, but they decided against due to strain on spare parts and jeopardising its rest of pre-season.
Vowles noted that the massive scale of the project caught them out in places and that delayed production, which in turn forced them to skip Barcelona shakedown. It is not like they didn’t want to take part, any track time is valuable, especially for a brand new car.
But they had to take the hard decision to value the rest of pre-season and start of the season. They have the car ready and plugged in the Virtual Track Testing rig. It can mimic a lot of the track situations, which is the best they can do for now to collect as many engineering data as possible.
“I wanted to give an update on the FW48 and the tests we’ve been doing here in the UK and further to that I wanted to assure each and every one of you that we have taken the time to make sure we have all the facts and data around us before I come to you to explain what has happened and what we’re doing about it,” said Vowles in the video release.
“Last week we took the decision to not attend the shakedown test in Barcelona following delays to our car programme. This clearly wasn’t our original plan, it was painful and it isn’t a situation we want to be in again. We had intended to be on track in Barcelona. It is a result of our determination to push the limits of performance under these new regulations for 2026. We are transforming fast but this shows and my words have already said over the last few years we’re not yet at a championship level and we still have a tremendous amount of work to do.
“Only by pushing the boundaries can you find the pain points and put them right which is exactly what we’re doing. I’m not here to produce a car that’s well and truly within the tolerances. We have to push ourselves as a business to breaking point and we’ve done so. It’s painful but it means we will never be here again. I am confident that our decision not to attend Barcelona was the right one in the circumstances. It’s the right one to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race in Melbourne,” summed up Vowles.
Adding further on missing the Barcelona shakedown, looking at the bigger picture and running a virtual test, Vowles put down rumours about not passing crash tests, where he highlighted that it was cleared many weeks ago. As of now, post the VTT, Williams will have a filming day before Bahrain, likely around its launch date on February 3.
“Yes, but we would have compromised the rest of the pre-season and the bigger picture that we’re all working towards,” continued. “To explain the situation, we had a number of issues which are now resolved. I’m pleased to say that we have passed all necessary tests and for the avoidance of doubt there has never been a problem with our chassis tests which were passed many weeks ago. We are ready to run the official test in Bahrain and will carry out a promotional filming day ahead of it.
“In the meantime, we are carrying out an alternative test programme here in the UK including what we call a VTT, a virtual track test. The car is on there now, it’s been on there a few days and it will be on there for a few more days. It’s a physical car, the real car, the engine, the gearbox are all bolted to it and it’s put through its paces on a rig and provides valuable engineering data. The car is there as we speak and will continue running tomorrow. We cannot wait to get on track. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2026.
“Everyone here in Grove is working absolutely flat out and with incredible passion and dedication to get us ready and I want to thank our fans for your incredible support. It really does mean so much to us. Trust that we are working diligently and incredibly hard. I also want to thank our partners and suppliers including some great new additions. In recent days we’ve welcomed nuveen and Sparco to the team and renewed our partnership with Kraken and there’s some really good news to come on that front before we reveal our race delivery next Tuesday so please stay tuned,” summed up Vowles.
While the Brit clarified the rumours about crash test and preparedness, Vowles didn’t deny that Williams could be overweight when it hit the track. He reckons that it is impossible to judge the weight of the car as things stand and only once they have everything bolt up, they will get to see the real picture and weight of the car to start the season.
“There’s no knowledge of the weight until we get to Bahrain in terms of understanding where it is,” said Vowles to select media like Motorsport Network, The Race, Planet Network, F1 website and more. “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,” summed up Vowles.
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