{"id":64991,"date":"2026-01-24T10:03:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/?p=64991"},"modified":"2026-01-24T10:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:07:12","slug":"williams-skip-barcelona-test-but-still-a-lot-to-look-forward-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/williams-skip-barcelona-test-but-still-a-lot-to-look-forward-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Williams skip Barcelona test but still “a lot to look forward to”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Williams insists there is “a lot to look forward to” in 2026 despite skipping next week’s Barcelona test.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From Monday, Formula 1 teams will be permitted three days of running out of five scheduled for a private shakedown of the all-new cars for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

But while several teams, including Ferrari and McLaren, have confirmed they won’t be on track until day two or even three, Williams won’t be in Spain at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week\u2019s shakedown test in Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance,” a statement read on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team will instead conduct a series of tests, including a VTT [Virtual Test Track] programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Williams faced similar delays in 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The situation is an eerie throwback to 2019, when Williams didn’t conduct a private shakedown and then missed the start of testing due to delays and financial restraints.<\/p>\n

Today, the situation is much different, as the team continues its major overhaul under the leadership of James Vowles and has healthy financial backing from owners Dorilton Capital.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the Williams statement made clear that fans should remain optimistic for the new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to getting on track in the coming weeks and want to thank all our fans for your continued support \u2013 there is a lot to look forward to together in 2026,\u201d it concluded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Driver Carlos Sainz also gave his backing to the team on Instagram, posting: \u201cWe are committed to keep pushing flat out! Can\u2019t wait to hit the track soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the Spaniard also explained how important it would be for Williams to start strongly, given one anticipated advantage over many of their competitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of confidence in the Mercedes engine,” he told Spain’s El Partidazo de<\/span><\/em><\/a> COPE, as quoted by\u00a0PlanetF1.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually one of the main reasons I chose Williams for this new regulation change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew we\u2019d be running the Mercedes power unit. Everything I\u2019ve heard about it has been positive and still is.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut of course, we can\u2019t forget that Mercedes will have the Mercedes engine, McLaren will have it, Alpine will have it and so will Williams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s already four teams, eight cars, with the same engine \u2013 and two of those teams, especially McLaren, are superior right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo no matter how good the engine is, you still need to get everything right with the chassis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means we have to get everything right with the chassis to stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Williams insists there is “a lot to look forward to” in 2026 despite skipping next week’s Barcelona test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[297,341,295,512],"class_list":{"0":"post-64991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-carlos-sainz","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-williams"},"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64995,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64991\/revisions\/64995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}