First Look: 2026 Williams F1 car finally breaks cover in shakedown run

Williams’ 2026 Formula 1 car has broken cover for the first time for a shakedown at Silverstone, having missed the first pre-season test in Barcelona.

The Grove-based outfit enjoyed its strongest season in a decade last year, as it stormed to fifth in the constructors’ standings.

The team also scored a brace of late-season podiums courtesy of Carlos Sainz on its way to its best championship position since 2016.

As such, the Williams team came into the new car rule cycle with a lot of expectation on its shoulders to keep that momentum up.

However, the FW48 has endured a troubled winter so far, after Williams missed the pre-season Barcelona shakedown test late last month.

It was the only team not to carry out any running.

The reason given was production delays in the new car, though there was speculation that the FW48 had failed its crash tests and was now significantly over the minimum weight limit in a bid to pass the FIA mandate.

Team boss James Vowles denied that there was a significant weight issue, however, but did acknowledge earlier this that Williams wouldn’t know for sure where it is in terms of car weight until it was able to track test it properly.

Williams has passed the crash tests and will be on track next week in Bahrain for the first official outing on 11-13 February.

Ahead of this, the team completed a shakedown test at Silverstone on Wednesday with the FW48.

There are no details on the run plan, though teams are only permitted to 200km of running during shakedowns. 

On Tuesday, Williams unveiled the livery for its 2026 challenger in an online launch.

Vowles noted during a media call ahead of the livery launch that Williams wouldn’t be heading into  Bahrain on the back foot thanks to its simulator work and Virtual Track Testing.

“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,” he said.

“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.”