Williams Boss Vowles 'not Concerned At All' At Missing Test

Williams squad main James Vowles says he is "not concerned astatine all" astir missing nan first pre-season trial past week.

Delays successful nan accumulation of their caller car made Williams the only squad not to make it to nan test astatine Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Vowles acknowledged that missing nan trial was "a deficit" because Williams had not been capable to summation acquisition of nan complexities of power guidance successful nan caller engines being introduced this year.

Rivals person said that on-track moving is invaluable successful learning really to negociate nan caller power-units. These person 3 times much powerfulness successful nan electrical portion of nan hybrid engines this twelvemonth and are power starved arsenic a result.

But Vowles said he was "confident we're successful a bully place" because "a batch of that tin beryllium replicated pinch a driver simulator erstwhile you person an meticulous exemplary into wherever you are successful reality".

Vowles was talking arsenic Williams launched their caller livery pinch pictures of what nan squad described arsenic "essentially a simplified type of nan 2026 car, not nan FW48 (itself)".

He said that nan six days of moving complete nan remaining 2 pre-season tests successful Bahrain later this period should springiness Williams clip to stitchery nan information they need, and that being a Mercedes motor customer besides came pinch benefits.

"That is an advantage we person to acknowledge, arsenic opposed to possibly Aston (Martin) pinch conscionable Honda and 1 squad arsenic a consequence of it," Vowles said.

"There is learning, however, successful driving style, adapting to nan caller power systems. That's a batch of what you tin spot correct now being talked about.

"But a batch of that is mimicked. It's portion of nan logic why we built a state-of-the-art driver and loop simulator. It does let you astatine slightest to autumn backmost connected immoderate simulation systems."

Vowles joined Williams 3 years agone charged pinch returning nan squad to nan beforehand of Formula 1, and made advancement pinch a fifth-place decorativeness successful nan constructors' title past year.

This is nan 3rd clip successful 7 years, however, successful which delays successful nan car-build process person affected Williams' early-season plans.

Vowles said: "I've seen elements successful '23. I've seen what's happened this year, and they're not nan same. The peculiar 1 this twelvemonth is nan complexity of nan car."

Of nan car itself, he added: "The beforehand (suspension) wishbone is rather an awesome creation and wherever it is and really it's efficaciously constructed is pushing nan boundaries of what we've done earlier arsenic a business.

"But we haven't moved each parts of nan business connected astatine nan aforesaid level and fleshed it retired to that level to understand wherever we're going to break it. That's what I'm seeing now astatine this stage.

"You only cognize your boundaries by perfectly pushing each bound possible. I perfectly judge successful what I would telephone intelligent failure. And you get location by efficaciously pushing nan boundaries of what you're doing. And what we did was precisely that this year.

"You forge location a heck of a batch quicker pinch nan symptom that's surrounding america astatine nan infinitesimal than if you conscionable skirt astir nan rumor and possibly made nan past fewer days of Barcelona."

Vowles said he did not expect Williams to beryllium capable to situation astatine nan beforehand this season.

They person retained nan aforesaid drivers, pinch British-Thai Alex Albon collaborated by Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Albon vanished eighth successful nan 2025 drivers' championship, 1 spot and 9 points up of Sainz, who managed 2 third-placed finishes successful Azerbaijan and Qatar.

"We want to found 2025 arsenic our caller guidelines and support moving guardant twelvemonth connected twelvemonth crossed nan committee and crossed nan business," he said.

"There are immoderate bits of nan car that are perfectly title level. And there's different bits wherever we person a agelong measurement to spell earlier we're there, including conscionable getting nan car built and vanished arsenic a polished article. That doesn't lead to podiums aliases wins."

Vowles said he had been impressed by nan magnitude of moving completed by Ferrari and nan Red Bull teams. Red Bull were moving nan first motor produced by their caller in-house facility, and he said Mercedes "came retired of nan container strong".

He besides became nan latest rival to ablution praise connected nan creation of nan caller Aston Martin, their first car nether nan activity of creation fable Adrian Newey.

"I wouldn't want to beryllium a designer successful Aston Martin. That's a very awesome group of wishbones connected that car. Really, really intrinsic aliases absorbing design."

Mercedes driver George Russell made nan aforesaid study astatine their charismatic motorboat connected Monday.

"What Adrian has done pinch that car, it looks beautiful spectacular," Russell said.

"Aston Martin was astir apt nan astir standout successful position of nan car design. I deliberation everybody was looking astatine that rear suspension and it evidently visually looks very impressive. But it's not a title of really sexy it is. It's a title really accelerated it goes astir nan track."