Williams boss James Vowles ‘not concerned at all’ at missing Barcelona test

Vowles said he did not expect Williams to be a front-line starter this season.

They kept the same drivers, partnering British-Thai Alex Albon and Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Albon finished eighth in the 2025 drivers’ championship, one place and nine points ahead of Sainz, who had two third-place finishes in Azerbaijan and Qatar.

“We want to establish 2025 as our new base and continue to improve both overall and across the business each year,” he said.

“There are some parts of the car that are absolutely championship level. And there are other parts that have a long way to go before we get there, including just building and finishing the car as a showpiece product. That doesn’t lead to podiums or wins.”

Vowles said he was impressed with the amount of runs completed by the Ferrari and Red Bull teams. Red Bull was using the first engine produced at its new facilities and said Mercedes “came strong out of the box”.

It also became the latest rival to heap praise on the design of the new Aston Martin, its first car led by design legend Adrian Newey.

“I wouldn’t want to be a designer at Aston Martin. This car has very impressive suspension arms. It’s a really unique or interesting design.”

Mercedes driver George Russell made the same observation at its official launch on Monday.

“What Adrian did with that car looks pretty amazing,” Russell said.

“The Aston Martin was probably the most notable in terms of vehicle design. I think everyone was looking at the rear suspension and visually it looks very impressive. But it’s not a competition about how sexy it is. It’s a competition about how fast it goes around the track.”