The key area where missing Barcelona F1 test has hindered Williams drivers

Alex Albon says understanding the energy deployment of the 2026 Formula 1 power units is the key area Williams is playing catch-up with at the Bahrain test.

Production delays meant Williams couldn’t run its FW38 on track at the Barcelona shakedown late last month, while all other F1 teams managed to.

The car debuted at a filming day last week at Silverstone, before making its first public appearance on Wednesday on the opening day of the Bahrain test.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have managed over 130 laps between them over the first two days of the test, as Williams makes up for lost time.

“We’re playing catch-up, but for the most part, we’ve hit the mileage we need to,” Albon told the official F1 website on Thursday.

“We are learning a lot. I think there’s no secret: we missed quite a lot of information we would have gotten if we’d done Barcelona.

“But the run plan, so far, has been constructive. We’ve got a clear goal in mind and we’re just ticking them off.”

The missing track time at Barcelona has been especially costly this pre-season due to the radical regulations overhaul for 2026.

Team boss James Vowles was confident that Williams has been able to limit the damage this has caused through its Virtual Track Testing and simulator work.

However, Albon notes that the rest of the grid has “probably got a good grasp” already of how the new power units behave, which is the key area he and Sainz are still learning about.

“Obviously, for Carlos and I, we’re still learning the deployment side of things,” he added.

“So, I think most drivers have probably got a good grasp of it, whereas we’re still learning out laps, push laps, and how to harvest battery, how to be efficient with our driving.

“But we’re enjoying it, to be honest, it’s getting there.”

Testing at Bahrain concludes on Friday, before a second three-day test takes place at the same venue next week from 18-20 February.