Williams’ absence in Barcelona may not be the end: How the team can still rebound
- Mia Wallace
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written by Mia Wallace, Edited by Meghana Sree
After being the only team to miss the Barcelona shakedown, many are speculating that Williams have dug themselves a hole too deep to crawl out of. Is it truly the end for a team that delivered promising results last season, or are they set to defy the odds?
As we approach a new era of Formula One, teams are working tirelessly against the clock to produce a car that can withstand one of the largest regulatory overhauls the sport has ever seen. Following five days of private testing in Barcelona this past week, all eyes were on the teams that excelled, disappointed, or, in Williams' case, didn’t show up at all.
Following an announcement that the team would skip the first round of pre-season testing, eyebrows have been raised regarding the internal status of Williams, along with the physical competitiveness of their yet-to-be seen 2026 challenger.
The silver lining
Is it really game over though? While missing out on a full week of testing is not necessarily ideal, it isn’t all as detrimental as it seems. In fact, there may even be some hidden benefits. Williams Team Principal James Vowles hints at the silver lining despite the team’s absence at testing in Barcelona.
“We have the power unit provided by Mercedes, the gearbox provided by Mercedes, so the learning that they’re going through this week in Barcelona will carry over into us, into Bahrain,” the Briton said last week.
“It’s not that I want to be resting on their hard work, but also it is worth stating that that is still an advantage for us that falls out of it, or a disadvantage that’s negated. I’m confident with six days in Bahrain, we will run through the programme that we need to and it’s why we’re on the VTT [Virtual Test Track] now.”
Williams will be one of four teams on the 2026 grid running the Mercedes power unit, which has been the cause of many whispers around the F1 world. Although Williams was unable to put the promising power unit to use at testing, there was still much to be learned from the other teams utilising the same unit, with top-field teams McLaren and Mercedes having strong results in Barcelona.
It is also important to note that the shakedown in Barcelona was not the only chance Williams had to test their new machinery. They still have the second round of public testing to look forward to in Bahrain starting next week, where they will have the opportunity to run their 2026 challenger on track over the course of six days.
A fresh look, a fresh lift
As a team, Williams can also seek motivation from their livery reveal, which substantially boosted morale and excitement surrounding the team after a rocky week. While their actual FW84 challenger remains under wraps, the team revealed their 2026 livery via social media this week, where the response was largely positive. The livery features the team’s traditional deep blue, but comes with a new twist — sidepods featuring light blue as a nod to their new partnership with Barclays, and white.
The reworking of the old livery directly symbolises positive change, as the team states how the colour scheme reflects “bold intent” going into the new era of regulations that they have high hopes for.
“2026 is the next step on the path back towards the top for Williams F1 Team as we enter a new era for the sport, and we are excited about the season ahead,” Vowles said following the reveal.
“We have a great driver line-up, some fantastic new partners, an ever-growing fanbase and want to build on the success we tasted last year, but we are not naïve about the challenge ahead of us. Nobody quite knows what will happen at the first race but we are looking forward to finding out, and hope our fans will love cheering us on with this great new livery.”
Confidence behind the wheel
While all teams should preach optimism when approaching a new season, Williams had a successful season in 2025 that carries especially strong intent into this year.
In the Constructor’s Championship last year, they secured fifth place — their best championship result in eight years. After a disappointing 2024 season ending in only 17 points, the 137 points scored in 2025 showed clear improvement in the team dynamics and driver line-up.
Williams driver Alex Albon, who scored 73 of the total points, had four fifth place finishes that scored 10 essential points on each occasion. He was harmoniously paired with former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who scored 64 points and finished the season with two podiums and Williams’ first top three finishes since 2021.
“I think it rewards teams like ourselves where with Alex [Albon] and Carlos [Sainz], the driving is very instinctive and natural, and they have the brain capacity to be able to deal with how to use their electrical energy in the most efficient way possible, for example,” Vowles stated when revealing how preparations are progressing ahead of this season.
He also hinted at some of the new physical upgrades the team would be benefitting from during the season.
“[In terms of changes] there are some sort of big, juicy items, like our full state-of-the-art Driver in Loop simulator, that was used and signed off just at the end of 2025,” he said.
“And that's a huge step in our journey — simulation tools that really are a benchmark, that allow us now not to just use heuristic knowledge in order to build the car and design where we're going, but proper tool sets that allow us to understand what a future vision can look like and [be] implemented at the same time.”
The test ahead
All in all, there are still uncertainties with Williams going into the season, mainly regarding their car and its performance in comparison to their rivals who maximised all of their proposed testing time so far. Setbacks early on may cause huge repercussions further down the line, but fans shouldn’t lose all hope just yet.
Following a positive momentum from last season, a promising power unit and strong driver line-up Williams very well may still be in contention to top the mid-field and even challenge some of the championship-fighting teams.
With the second instalment of pre-season testing beginning next week, the team will anticipate the debut of their season challenger as well as concrete proof of where exactly they stand against the other teams.
Until then, we can only imagine how well the FW84 will stack-up.
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