Williams team principal James Vowles has detailed which teams he was impressed with during the shakedown in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
While Williams did not take its car to Spain, the team had boots on the ground to do some reconnaissance on its rivals for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n
James Vowles picks three most impressive F1 rivals in Barcelona shakedown<\/p>\n
While focusing on its own run plan was the primary goal, every team at the Circuit de Catalunya will have kept one eye on what its rivals had conjured up over the winter break.<\/p>\n
Even Williams had spies in the paddock, able to keep an eye on not only how the cars looked but also the number of laps each clocked in before reporting back to Vowles who remained in Grove.<\/p>\n
During the team\u2019s launch, Vowles was asked which teams impressed him during the shakedown and highlighted Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes for praise.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I\u2019ve been really impressed with Red Bull, especially on the power unit side,\u201d he said. \u201cTo do a power unit from scratch and it turn out to be that reliable is mighty. Well done to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber two, Ferrari\u2019s consistency, perhaps the outright pace is in question, but the consistency is really impressive for them. Again, from the get-go.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercedes. I mean, I was there for a long time. They\u2019re very good at getting regulation change right and walking out with a package that\u2019s just robust and reliable. But if you\u2019re doing a race sim, just about a day into testing, is very, very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
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*\u00a0Adrian Newey: Aston Martin AMR26 will be \u2018very different\u2019 for Australian Grand Prix<\/a> As well as three of the biggest teams in the sport, Vowles was also asked about Aston Martin with plenty of interest put into how Adrian Newey had interpreted the rules.<\/p>\n Vowles picked out the wishbones as an area where Newey had diverted from conventional thinking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really impressive,\u201d he said of the AMR26. \u201cAdrian is just a creative designer, and it\u2019s really impressive what he\u2019s done with wishbones in places that I don\u2019t think they should be, but he\u2019s done them.<\/p>\n \u201c[But] it\u2019s hard for anyone to tell you where the ordering is, because also, I don\u2019t think the cars you necessarily see today will be the cars you see in Melbourne, and that\u2019s what makes it interesting in the beginning of season.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they\u2019ve impressed me. Where they all sit? Hard to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
*\u00a0Christian Horner defends F1 2026 power unit strategies amid compression ratio debate<\/a>
*\u00a0Williams publishes FW48 car weight as rumoured F1 2026 fears eased<\/a><\/p>\n