James Vowles also sees that, right now, the Formula 1 paddock is largely playing ‘games’. According to the team principal, Red Bull in particular is guilty of the so‑called ‘sandbagging’, after the Austrian team’s power unit was still hailed as one of the strongest on the grid. ‘Since then they’ve dialled things back a fair bit,’ Vowles observes.
Ahead of the Bahrain test days, Mercedes were already being tipped as one of the title favourites. Those high hopes for the Silver Arrows were driven largely by their brand‑new power unit. Mercedes were reportedly the team that best did their homework on the 2026 engine regulations. The German outfit then tried to shift that pressure onto Red Bull, as Max Verstappen noted, even accusing the Silver Arrows of ‘sandbagging’ himself.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, however, was not the only one to praise the Red Bull power unit; Carlos Sainz also concluded the Austrians were ‘a step ahead’ of the rest of the field. Red Bull themselves rejected the favourites’ tag. According to James Vowles — team principal of Mercedes customer team Williams — it’s all a set of games being played around the paddock.
Games
“Red Bull looked very strong, right up until we started talking about their power unit. Since then they’ve significantly backed off,” Vowles analyses to F1TV. The team principal believes the same four top teams from last year — Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren — will set the order again this season. “Ferrari, credit to them, honestly. They’re bringing strong innovations, they’re making progress and I think they’ll be competitive.”
“Mercedes, simply because they came out of the blocks very strongly and have stayed strong throughout. You can’t underestimate them,” Vowles continues. “What I’m saying is that even inside the paddock right now it’s hard to tell, depending on what games people play with the power unit and fuel.” The Brit appears to be referring to the ‘sandbagging’ that happens every year in Formula 1. Teams aren’t yet extracting the maximum from their cars.
Expectations for Williams
According to Vowles, his own team currently sits “in the small group of cars behind” the top four. “I mean, my expectation is that we can effectively develop at a rate that is equal to or higher than the teams around us, certainly the midfield,” he says. “That would be the expectation. But as I’ve said a hundred times, I’d love to be able to say we’re fighting for the championship or fighting in that top four.”
