Speaking during the Barcelona week, Vowles admitted the absence was far from ideal. “[It] clearly wasn’t our plan, and it’s incredibly painful,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that we’ve passed all necessary tests and we’re ready to run in Bahrain,” Vowles said, adding that Williams will complete a 200km filming day ahead of the test. While acknowledging the team could have made it to Barcelona, Vowles said the knock-on effect would have been too damaging. “In terms of Barcelona, we could have made Barcelona testing – simple as that,” he said.