Williams F1 misses first 2026 testing week

Williams had a great 2025 season, so something is going right there, but we were also particularly impressed because of the loud noises the team had made all year about having diverted its development attention to the 2026 car as early as possible. The whole Vowles Doctrine seems to have been short-term pain for 2026 gain, and with the Mercedes power unit assumed to be the best, Williams had pegged the expectation-meter going into the new rule set.

And now, on the eve of the first chance the teams get to run the new car in earnest, Williams is not going to be ready. They’re being extremely cagey about details, and rumors about what went wrong keep gaining steam and then getting punctured, so we’ll have to wait for Vowles to explain himself, but there is no spinning this. Cadillac ran the test. They didn’t exist last year. What is Williams’ excuse?