Ferrari and Mercedes were the two teams that completed the highest number of laps during the Barcelona F1 tests. While lap times are not particularly meaningful at this stage, Lewis Hamilton finished at the top of the overall running order across the five days on track. Both teams clearly made an impression on James Vowles, who closely observed the action from the sidelines.
Williams did not take part in the collective shakedown. Despite this, the team sent several of its personnel to Barcelona to analyze the work carried out by rival teams. The Grove-based car is set to make its on-track debut in Bahrain, although it is currently affected by issues related to chassis weight. The British team was forced to make certain compromises in order to pass the crash tests and be ready to run.
Vowles’ impressions from the tests
James Vowles commented on the first F1 tests of the season, revealing how impressed he was by the strong results achieved by Ferrari and Mercedes at this stage. His assessment focused primarily on the Power Units rather than outright performance. Throughout the entire test programme, the engines from both teams encountered no reliability issues of any kind. This allowed them to accumulate significantly more data compared to their competitors.
“I think Mercedes is doing well straight away, sticking to the schedule they announced and the mileage they said they wanted to cover. It’s really impressive from the very beginning,” Vowles said while speaking to several media outlets, as reported by GPblog.
The power unit produced in Brixworth will, of course, also be installed in the 2026 Williams car. However, James Vowles also wanted to highlight the work carried out in Maranello: “Then there’s Ferrari, which is exactly the same story. Once again, very impressive from the start.”
A reference was also made to Red Bull’s Power Unit. The Milton Keynes-based team has nevertheless done a solid job considering it is their first in-house engine project, even if it has not yet reached the same level as the other two manufacturers.
James Vowles’ assessment of the Barcelona tests highlights a clear early divide in the 2026 engine race, with Mercedes and Ferrari establishing themselves as the gold standard for reliability. For a team principal like Vowles, who relies on Mercedes power for his own Williams project, seeing such high mileage from the Brixworth unit is an encouraging sign amidst his team’s own chassis-weight struggles. While Red Bull’s independent engine project has shown promise, the seamless operation of the Maranello and Brackley power units suggests that the established manufacturers have utilized their decades of experience to master the new technical regulations right out of the gate. As the teams head to Bahrain, these “impressive” early figures will serve as the benchmark for everyone else, proving that in the high-stakes transition to 2026, reliability is the first true indicator of competitive potential.
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