Bernie Collins identifies the ‘one saving grace’ for Williams amid absence from Barcelona test

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With the majority of the grid in Barcelona for Formula 1’s inaugural shakedown ahead of the upcoming season, Williams are the only team absent from the pit lane.

In the days leading up to the all-important first day of F1’s first week of testing in Barcelona, Williams announced that they would not be joining their rivals at the Catalan-based circuit after failing to pass the FIA’s mandatory crash tests.

It’s seen as a big setback for the Grove-based outfit, especially considering that they were one of the first teams on the grid to switch focus to the new ruleset during last year’s campaign.

James Vowles declared that Williams wouldn’t experience any delays, even if they had to experience a slight performance deficit at the start of the season because of it.

Despite his words not coming to fruition, the British constructor does have one aspect of their new challenger that is clocking in some laps in Barcelona.

• READ MORE: Ted Kravitz saw something ‘eye-catching’ from Red Bull during first day of F1’s Barcelona shakedown

The first lap times of 2026 have been completed 👏 what are your impressions from day one of testing?

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Williams have ‘one saving grace’ amid their absence from F1’s inaugural 2026 test in Barcelona

During Sky Sports F1’s recap of the first day of the grid’s secret shakedown in Barcelona, former strategy engineer turned TV analyst Bernie Collins highlighted Mercedes clocking in some crucial mileage as a silver lining for Williams.

The Grove-based outfit will be housing the German constructor’s power for the 13th consecutive season this year, in what is the longest engine customer partnership currently on the grid.

On the topic of Mercedes’ new power unit, Collins said, “We are expecting great things for them. We were expecting the Mercedes power unit to be the leader of the field.

“Now that’s yet to be proven, as we’ve discussed with some of the other teams. One saving grace for Williams is that the power unit and the gearbox they will run are currently running on track in the Mercedes car.

“So there is at least some reliability data being gathered there, and some of the fault-finding around that. Now, obviously, they’ll be expected to package that differently into their car.

“Things like the radiators and other aspects that feed into that power unit will be different in the Williams car, but the core power unit is being tested.

“The VTT testing, that virtual track test, has moved on a lot from 2014 and I think that’s why we’re seeing reliability on the whole be better than it was back then.

“But I think it is disappointing for Williams not to see this test at all, particularly because they failed the chassis crash test and are now adding weight to the car.

“It’s still only two and a half weeks till we get to Bahrain. Producing the chassis, in particular, is a big, big component to get right.”

• READ MORE: How Williams staff reacted in the factory to real reason they’re missing Barcelona shakedown test

What impact will Williams missing the Barcelona shakedown test have on their 2026 season?

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Aston Martin will be running at Barcelona following rumours of them also missing the shakedown

After Williams confirmed their absence from the Barcelona shakedown, it emerged that Aston Martin were also experiencing issues with the FIA’s initial scrutineering.

However, the rumours of them sitting out the week of testing have been put to bed after the Silverstone-based team announced that they would be present on track for the final two days of the week on social media.

Unlike Williams with Mercedes power, Aston Martin are the only team on the grid who are being supplied with engines from Honda, meaning that any track time they get this week will be all the more crucial for engineers as they look to refine the team’s power unit.

There have been ‘whispers’ of Honda running out of time to finish Aston Martin’s new engine, so gathering as much data as possible with its current iteration will be paramount to the Japanese manufacturer’s efforts of providing something competitive.