Lewis Hamilton - Photo: Ferrari

F1 team boss left stunned by three rivals in Barcelona: 'They impressed me'

16:01, 04 Feb

Updated: 16:36, 04 Feb

byTobia Elia

Williams team principal James Vowles admitted he was surprised by three other teams, aside from Mercedes, during Barcelona testing week.

“They’ve impressed me — but where they all truly stand is hard to tell”

- James Vowles

Those three teams, he explained, were Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin, each of which impressed him in different ways, while Williams were the only outfit not to take part in the shakedown week.

“I’ve been really impressed with Red Bull, especially on the power unit side. To do a power unit from scratch and turn up with that level of reliability is mighty. Well done to them,” he told GPblog among other media.

“Number two is Ferrari’s consistency. Perhaps the outright pace is still a question mark, but the consistency has been really impressive from the get-go.”

After also mentioning Mercedes — who caught the eye during testing with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli — Vowles said he was impressed by Aston Martin as well, with Adrian Newey’s first car already generating plenty of buzz thanks to some innovative design solutions.

Photo: Race Pictures

“it’s really impressive. Adrian is just a creative designer, and what he’s done — putting wishbones in places where I don’t think they should be — is remarkable. But he’s done it.

He finally added: “What’s interesting, is that this is exactly what you need for a narrative. It’s hard for anyone to say where the pecking order really is, because I also don’t think the cars you’re seeing today will necessarily be the ones you see in Melbourne.

“That’s what makes the start of the season so interesting. So yes, they’ve impressed me — but where they all truly stand is hard to tell.”

Vowles casts doubt on Mercedes’ 2014-style dominance with 2026 rules

The W17 was undoubtedly one of the standout cars over the five days of testing in Barcelona, and for months now there has been growing talk of Mercedes as the favourite for the title.

However, Vowles does not believe his former team will enjoy a performance advantage on the scale of 2014, when the Silver Arrows blew the competition away at the dawn of the hybrid era.

Read the full story here.