Williams boss James Vowles raises key question about Ferrari's 2026 car
Despite missing pre-season testing in Barcelona, James Vowles has been watching other teams' performances closely
Williams Team Principal James Vowles has raised questions around Ferrari's 2026 package after watching Barcelona pre-season testing.
The Williams F1 team were the only outfit on the grid who failed to take part in the private test following production delays on their 2026 car.
Despite missing the entirety of testing in Barcelona Vowles has been paying close attention to what the other teams have brought to the table this year.
And he has said that there is a question mark around the pace of Ferrari's 2026 car.
Speaking during the Williams F1 launch last week Vowles said that he was most impressed by Red Bull and their engine package adding that while Ferrari's mileage without any reliability issues was impressive - questions around their pace remain.
“I’ve been really impressed with Red Bull, especially on the power unit side,” Vowles said.
“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.”
Following an impressive campaign in 2025 which saw the Grove-based outfit finish 5th in the Constructor's championship, the team was hoping to hit the ground running in 2026 to take advantage of the regulations change.
Despite missing the initial testing session in Barcelona, Vowles has said he is confident that the team won't be at a disadvantage heading into the season opener in Australia next month.
“I would have much preferred to have been in Barcelona,” Vowles said.
“That was the goal. That was what we were intending to do. We did not achieve it.
“However, what we did in terms of a week of VTT [Virtual Track Testing] that was successful and what we’ve been doing with both Carlos [Sainz] and Alex [Albon] on the simulator in tandem to while everyone else was in Barcelona, in addition, and we are fortunate that Mercedes had sufficient runners.
“So, there was quite a bit of information coming back on the gearbox and power unit that enables us to get ahead when we come to Bahrain.
“That means, I do not believe that with six days of testing we’ll be on the back foot.
