Alex Albon gave his opinion on the announcement that Williams will miss the Formula 1 Barcelona shakedown to pursue further performance gains.
While many teams won’t be present at the start of the week in Barcelona, opting for a later start, most will arrive for their allotted three days of testing. However, Williams will not appear at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at all.
This came after unconfirmed reports that the team remained overweight and had failed the FIA mandatory crash tests.
With the 2026 regulatory overhaul, beginning the season prepared will be of utmost importance to each team. Williams opted to take the extra days and put all their time into developing the car, ready for Bahrain pre-season testing.
Alex Albon maintains ‘full focus ahead’
The team released a statement that read: “Atlassian Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week’s shakedown test in Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance,” read a short statement from the team.
“The team will instead conduct a series of tests, including a VTT programme (virtual test track) next week with the 2026 car, to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.
“We are looking forward to getting on track in the coming weeks and want to thank all our fans for your continued support – there is a lot to look forward to together in 2026.”
However, Alex Albon remained positive, posting on Instagram about the team’s decision. For the Thai-British driver, the choice was a natural conclusion of the team putting everything into their 2026 performance.
“It’s not how we wanted to start the year,” the Thai-British driver wrote on Instagram, “but these things can happen when you are pushing the limits!
“Full focus ahead!”
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