Author Archives: PressBox

Williams became the final Formula 1 team to run its 2026 car when the FW48 completed a private shakedown at Silverstone on February 4, 2026. The trial came after the Grove-based squad missed last week’s Barcelona collective test because of production delays. Team principal James Vowles described the Barcelona absence as “painful” and said the program had relied heavily on simulator work and a Virtual Track Test (VTT) to make up mileage. He also warned the team was “already more than 500 laps behind rivals Mercedes” in on-track understanding. Williams confirmed the FW48 passed mandatory crash tests and had been through several weeks of virtual development before its first physical laps, a sequence intended to manage the heavier loads introduced under the 2026 regulations.

The Silverstone outing was staged as a private filming shakedown and featured Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sharing driving duties, with Albon completing the FW48’s first laps. The car ran a fan-selected temporary “Flow State” testing livery and carried branding from a group of new partners. However, Williams released only a limited number of images from the largely wet session. Engineers used the run to validate packaging choices, with photographs showing a pull-rod front suspension and anti-dive geometry, to identify minor issues and to collect initial on-track data after weeks of VTT and simulator work.

Vowles called the outing a “milestone moment” and framed it as the start of a concentrated push toward more complete pre-season running, while Albon said the limited debut “doesn’t define our season.” Williams plans to take the FW48 to the Bahrain pre-season tests from February 11–13 and 18–20 to expand its running program, refine setups, and close the deficit ahead of the season opener in Melbourne in March. The Silverstone shakedown moved the FW48 out of virtual and production phases into real-world operation, providing a modest but necessary step in the team’s preparation for on-track competition.

Lando Norris said he aims to keep improving as he heads into his F1 title defense in 2026 after winning his first world championship in a tense 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi. He edged McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and faced a late-season challenge from Max Verstappen. At a pre-season appearance at the McLaren Technology Centre, Norris rejected the idea that his ambitions had reset. “Honestly, no,” he said, stressing a continual desire to get better. He contrasted his own mindset with Verstappen’s, describing a different mental approach, and underlined that racing top rivals requires near-perfection. Norris said he feels confident during preparations for the new season and acknowledged support from fellow world champions has aided his preparation.

Despite the title, Autosport placed Norris fourth in its 2025 rankings behind Verstappen, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc, citing costly errors during the campaign. Specific low points included a Jeddah qualifying crash, contact with Piastri in Montreal, and an off-pace weekend in Baku, and Norris has signaled he still intends to work on closing performance gaps revealed by those weekends. He added that becoming champion has made him more relaxed and boosted his confidence, and he plans to bring more friends and family to races while maintaining the focus required to defend the crown. That mix of increased composure and a commitment to self-improvement frames his approach to the 2026 season.

“Last Lap Lando” also spoke about the wider competitive landscape, saying he “completely believes” George Russell will win a world championship while insisting he remains determined to defend his own title. Bookmakers and pundits have installed Mercedes and Russell as early front-runners in part because the team is expected to adapt well to the sport’s new chassis and power-unit regulations, which Norris acknowledged as a serious threat. He emphasized respect for his rivals but stressed he will begin the season with the same winning mentality that secured him the 2025 drivers’ crown, and noted his preparation and mindset differ from other contenders. With roughly four weeks until the Australian Grand Prix, Norris’s comments laid out both the pressures he faces and the specific preparations behind his 2026 campaign.

Williams unveiled the visual identity for its FW48 while keeping the chassis covered after missing the Barcelona pre-season running. The livery retains the team’s dark-blue base with lighter-blue sidepods and adds prominent white panels on the sidepods and on the front and rear wings for Komatsu branding. Barclays logos in cyan-blue appear following a new banking partnership, and the announcement confirmed additional commercial partners, including Anthropic and Wilkinson Sword.

The team reconfirmed Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz as its drivers for the upcoming campaign. Sainz scored two podiums in 2025, and the pair will look to build on Williams’ fifth-place finish in the 2025 constructors’ standings. Team principal James Vowles called the livery the most complex and best the team has produced and said Williams missed Barcelona because of production delays tied to an ambitious design and manufacturing programme, not failed FIA crash tests.

Williams described the FW48 as representing a technical shift, and placing greater emphasis on overbody airflow and the introduction of active aero via movable front and rear wing elements. The British establishment confirmed that the car runs a Mercedes power unit and gearbox, and says it relied heavily on intensive virtual-track testing and simulator work at its Grove base to develop accurate car-and-power-unit models before on-track running. Rivals have warned that this season’s higher electrical power and tighter energy-management demands make actual track mileage particularly valuable.

Williams plans a shakedown of the FW48 ahead of the Bahrain tests (Feb 11–13 and Feb 18–20), where it will run a fan-selected “flow state” livery across the two sessions and aim to recover lost on-track time. Vowles and the engineering group expressed cautious optimism, based on internal metrics, that the FW48 could be the team’s strongest package, but they acknowledged the car’s true competitiveness will only be revealed once it completes running in Bahrain and translates simulation gains into lap time under race conditions.

Mercedes emerged as the standout in Barcelona’s pre-season shakedown under the new regulations. Mercedes said its works team completed 501 laps, and that Mercedes-linked power units logged more than 1,000 combined laps, including customer teams. The W17 frequently appeared near the top of timing sheets, and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the all-new systems “worked brilliantly.” The team credited work at its Brixworth and Brackley facilities and momentum from an earlier Silverstone outing, while stressing that strong reliability is encouraging but not a definitive indicator of ultimate pace.

Mercedes called George Russell’s outing a “positive surprise.” He posted the second-fastest lap, within less than a tenth of Lewis Hamilton’s 1:16.348 marker, and reported the W17 “feels nice to drive” with no porpoising. Andrea Kimi Antonelli also showed encouraging pace at times. Both drivers covered heavy mileage to build a large data set, which Mercedes says will inform ongoing development.

Pressure persists off-track. Mercedes has not won the constructors’ title since 2021, or a drivers’ crown since 2020, but Toto Wolff remains in charge even as the technical group shifts. James Allison and Simone Resta remain involved, John Owen resigned, and engineering director Giacomo Tortora has assumed a larger role. Team commentary has tied driver futures and leadership scrutiny to on-track results. Russell’s seat and Antonelli’s progression were described as contingent, and Wolff has publicly signalled openness to pursuing other top drivers such as Max Verstappen should Mercedes prove dominant.

The team will next focus on setup exploration and race/qualifying preparation at the official Bahrain test on February 11–13, with further running planned for February 18–20. Those sessions will be key to determining whether the W17’s encouraging start converts into genuine championship contention and whether pressure on drivers and leadership intensifies.