Shakedown Williams, Albon admits: “Difficult months. Not the start we wanted”

Yesterday Williams finally took to the track at Silverstone, starting their 2026 season. It was not a simple start to the year for the Grove team, which sensationally missed the appointment with the shakedowns in Barcelona, ​​not showing up in Spain to complete the three days of on-track activity to which it was entitled. The “problems with the FW48 project” have slowed down the process of approaching the new year, representing a cold shower for the team directed by James Vowles, who after an excellent 2025 concluded as fifth force on the track and with two podiums was banking heavily on the change of the technical regulations to move even closer to the top of the grid. At the end of the working day at Silverstone, in which the new English single-seater covered its first kilometres, Albon expressed his thoughts on the social network X, acknowledging the problems of recent weeks but still thanking the team for the work done. “I completed the first laps with the FW48. It wasn’t the start to the season we wanted – wrote the Thai driver – but it’s fantastic to be back behind the wheel. This doesn’t define our season. Congratulations to everyone at Grove for the commitment and determination that allowed us to arrive here today at Silverstone after a difficult few months. Next stop, Bahrain. Let’s make sure this year is fantastic.” In Sakhir the hope is that everything goes well and Williams manages to clock up many kilometers to try to recover the gap that has inevitably started to create with the other teams that managed to run their car in Barcelona.