Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Williams Racing became the 11th and final Formula 1 team to debut their car on Wednesday with a private filming day at Silverstone.
The Barcelona shakedown took place last week, and Williams were the only team who were absent.
Team principal James Vowles admitted delays to the programme meant that the FW48 wasn’t present at the Circuit de Catalunya, meaning that they’re already more than 500 laps behind rivals Mercedes in understanding their car.
Williams’ last major F1 milestones – Can the Grove-based squad achieve any of these again in 2026? ⬇️
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz both got to drive Williams’ 2026 car at Silverstone on Wednesday ahead of two crucial pre-season tests in Bahrain.
Vowles has been closely watching Ferrari and the team’s other rivals so far, and they’ll all want to see why Williams felt they needed to wait until the week after the first shakedown to get onto the track.
Albon and Vowles have now reacted to the FW48’s on-track debut and provided some positivity after a tricky start to 2026.
READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties
Alex Albon congratulates Williams as James Vowles hails FW48 ‘milestone moment’
Taking to Instagram with a video of the car in action, Vowles said: “A milestone moment as we saw the FW48 in action for the first time today.
“A very proud day for the whole team, but the push isn’t over yet – this is just the beginning. We will give it everything.”
Albon also reacted to driving the car for the first time, and on Instagram, he stated: “First laps in the FW48 done. It wasn’t the start to the season we wanted but it feels amazing to be back driving.
“This doesn’t define our season. A big well done to everyone at Grove for the effort and determination to get us here today at Silverstone after a challenging few months.
“Next stop, Bahrain. Let’s make this year a great one!”
What impact will Williams missing the Barcelona shakedown test have on their 2026 season?
Williams fans have been left concerned by how this campaign has started, but two strong tests in Bahrain can quickly undo the lack of running in Barcelona.
This season’s regulations will see each team’s car change rapidly as they learn from their rivals, but Williams’ inability to get a car ready for Barcelona suggests they still might not be the most dynamic team when it comes to updating the FW48.
READ MORE: Williams star Alex Albon’s life outside F1 with net worth, girlfriend to parents
How Williams avoided a ‘highly embarrassing’ no-show at the Barcelona shakedown
Journalist Chris Medland was speaking on the RACER Weekly Podcast about Williams’ start to 2026.
He shared what sources within the team were telling him about not making it to Spain and explained: “I was told when they announced that they weren’t going to be in Barcelona that the only crash test that they hadn’t yet passed was to do with the nose box and that actually there was a way of them manufacturing a compromise, but then that was at cost that might still not be fully ready and pass the test until you’d actually done it.
“And he would then have sent the whole team out to Barcelona to get ready and have personnel there waiting for the car to show up and build the garage and everything like that.
“And then maybe still not make it, which would be highly embarrassing, but be costly. This is the cost cap era.
“You can’t just keep throwing money at things that aren’t actually going to happen. So they then decided, well, we’ve still got two more tests. We’ve still got at that point over two weeks until Bahrain.
“If you spend that whole time just focusing on Bahrain rather than scrambling to get to Barcelona, maybe you can do a bit more work on engineering and development and improve the car.”
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
