Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Williams team principal James Vowles has been clear since taking the job after leaving Mercedes that his focus was on the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Williams have been making progress under James Vowles, but the 2025 campaign has seen the Grove-based outfit take their biggest step forward in years.
The arrival of Carlos Sainz alongside Alex Albon saw Williams comfortably finish top of the midfield this season, scoring 137 points in the process.
Finish the sentence: In 2026, Carlos Sainz will finish ____ in the championship with Williams
What was particularly impressive about this is that Williams stopped testing their 2025 car in the wind tunnel from the moment they were allowed to shift their focus to next year.
Williams have already been testing new parts during the post-season event in Abu Dhabi, and Vowles deliberately lowered Sainz’s expectations ahead of his first year with the team with the regulation changes in mind.
The Williams team boss has now spoken about next year, and admitted that they’ve made one ‘sacrifice’ in the hopes that it will improve their chances across the upcoming campaign.
READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya thinks James Vowles has built Williams to ‘Mercedes level’ after Qatar GP
James Vowles says Williams will finish 2026 F1 work ‘earlier’ than rivals
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Vowles explained: “The entire car must be available for the VTT [virtual test track] test bench at the beginning of January.
“We will probably be the first team to start so early. We don’t want to be caught on the wrong foot again, as was the case in 2023.
“After the VTT tests, we will probably have another film day before the three test days in Barcelona begin.
“With the few weeks we finish earlier, we may sacrifice a little performance, but we ensure that there are no delays in the programme. That’s very important for us at Williams right now.”
James Vowles has taken the perfect approach to 2026 with Williams – change our minds
Let us know your thoughts!
Williams famously turned up to pre-season testing late in 2019, missing two days of running and finishing firmly bottom of the constructors’ championship that year, scoring only one point.
Some of Williams’ facilities are still very out of date compared to their rivals, and Vowles has put an emphasis on updating the team’s processes and procedures to try and close the gap to other teams in the paddock.
Reliability is going to be a key component of the 2026 season, and while Williams might be pushing performance to the extremes this season, finishing races could well end up being far more important.
READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties
What have Williams already prepared behind the scenes ahead of the 2026 F1 season?
Williams, like several other teams, will take part in a testing day in Barcelona before the official private five-day test starts at the end of January.
This will allow them to do 200km of running without the public and the media being able to assess their initial efforts.
Williams want to test the engine, gearbox and suspension in the VTT before heading to Barcelona, as they’ll put together the entire monocoque before taking to the track.
The data they collect from the VTT can help simulate race distances and how the car will deal with different track surfaces.
Williams’ filming days will be completed on demo tyres, meaning that they won’t be able to see how their new car interacts with Pirelli’s new compounds until the official test begins.
Vowles is trying to remove as many variables before Sainz and Albon begin to test the new car to its limits.
He’s learned from Williams’ recent history how much more important reliability and preparedness are than ultimate pace.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
