It has been a very weird week in the world of Formula 1: cars have hit the track for the first time in 2026 but the general public, media included, has only been drip-fed information. In a world where everything is usually on constant demand, putting the Barcelona shakedown behind closed doors as teams gear up for this year’s regulation change certainly caused a stir.
But alas, what can you do? As at least one newsworthy topic made its way into the domain and that was Williams opting to skip the five-day test following “delays in the FW48 programme”. Minds inevitably went back to 2024 when the British outfit also had a nightmare start with a car that was both late and overweight, but team boss James Vowles was quick to squash the comparisons as he confirmed that Williams “could have made it to Barcelona”, “but in doing so, I would have to turn upside down the impact on spares components” and updates across the opening rounds of the season.
