Williams skips Barcelona F1 test: a nightmare repeat of 2019. Williams will miss the Barcelona shakedown in 2026.

No shakedown in Barcelona

On the day of Ferrari’s presentation and shakedown at their home track in Fiorano, the spotlight unexpectedly turned to Williams, although the British team would have preferred to avoid it. The Grove-based squad officially announced its withdrawal from the shakedown tests scheduled from 26 to 30 January in Barcelona. This represents a severe blow, both in terms of ambition and public image, for a team that in recent years had worked hard to move away from the back of the grid. The remarkable 2025 season, which saw Williams finish fifth in the Constructors’ Championship and achieve two podiums thanks to Carlos Sainz, now seems almost erased with a single stroke.

The 2019 precedent

Williams’ absence from the Barcelona tests — which will mark the first official on-track activity for this new generation of Formula 1 cars — is an unfortunate déjà vu for the historic British team. The situation recalls February 2019, when the team founded by Frank Williams experienced one of the darkest years in its history. Plagued by a disastrous financial situation, which would ultimately lead to the sale of the team by Claire Williams to the American investment fund Dorilton Capital a year and a half later, the team failed to complete the design and construction of the FW42 within the scheduled timeline. As a result, Williams had to miss two of the four pre-season testing days in Barcelona that year as well.

Then-rookie George Russell and the returning Robert Kubica, Williams’ drivers at the time, could only take to the track from the third day onwards, immediately incurring a significant competitive disadvantage compared to their rivals. That year, Williams finished last in the Constructors’ Championship, collecting just a single point through Kubica at the German Grand Prix, thanks only to the double disqualification of both Sauber cars. The hope is that things will go differently this time for the historic British team, but starting a new regulatory cycle in this manner certainly does not bode well for the near future.