Jan 31, 2026
3 min read
After five days of shakedown testing in Barcelona, F1 analysts reveal what they have learned about the state of the field ahead of the 2026 rule change.
The first test -- um, we mean shakedown -- of the 2026 Formula 1 pre-season is now in the books.After five days of running at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, the top of the timing screen has taken on a distinctive shade of red, a glow that those in Italy are sure to enjoy before the first formal test begins in Bahrain on February 11.
So, what do we know -- what don't we know?-- after the sunset in Barcelona?Laurence Edmondson and Nate Saunders Laurence Edmondson and Nate Saunders looked at available data, spoke to the sources of the two tracks and presented their detailed analysis of what we saw from this new generation of cars.
What do we know?
The new cars make a good impression on the track
Although we don't know much about these new cars (see more below), we can safely say that they pass the visual test right away.It is difficult to predict how the new car will look based on the version of Formula 1 that has been installed first, but the final result looks beautiful.It's often said that it's a good sign when a car is fast, and so far, all of these things are as fast and smooth as F1 expects them to be.
It was a simple solution, as it turned out.Removing some of the super-complicated elements of the old cars, such as the boxy end plates and the hideous mass of jagged and exposed carbon fiber, resulted in a more streamlined looking end product.While the old cars looked stiff and overbuilt, the new ones have stripped it down enough to show off the overall look.
The rules also seem to have encouraged some teams to return to glossy livery, after years of extreme sacrifices made on the life side to save weight.Red Bull in particular looks absolutely gorgeous after years of dull paint.Watching 22 of these new cars roar into Turn 1 at Albert Park promises to be absolutely spectacular.-- Saunders
Mercedes have cemented their reputation as pre-season favourites
He completed 502 laps over three days and was the second fastest coach in a double-day regional.
By the end of Thursday, the W17 had covered 2,325 kilometers on the track over three days, just shy of a round trip between Mercedes' UK base and the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, a remarkable distance for any F1 car, let alone one built to entirely new rules.What's more, on the third and final day at Mercedes, the team is already working with the drivers on qualifying and race simulations - tasks that would normally wait until the final days of testing.
"We met all of our goals," said Andrew Shovlin, director of track engineering."We finished a day early [Thursday], but the car allowed us to execute the daily program as planned."
Mercedes' week in Barcelona echoed the last major engine rule change in 2014, which preceded eight consecutive constructors' titles for the Braclay team.And after wrong turn after wrong turn in the 2022 to 2025 Earth Effect period, there is a sense that a return to flat-bottomed cars and a greater focus on powertrain technology could offer a way back to the top.The tests will tell, but Mercedes' Barcelona time couldn't be improved much.-- Edmondson
Williams is against it
Williams can't sugarcoat it.Coach James Volles said the team could push Barcelona to sign up, but will do so at the expense of extra equipment for the first round of the competition.That's true.But Williams now faces an uphill climb, with the early part of Bahrain focused on several rivals who scored in Catalonia.Already caught.
They might take solace in how strong engine supplier Mercedes looks so far, but Williams is already in a position where it absolutely cannot afford to delay in the Middle East.The team insists that it will be ready for the trip to Bahrain, where there will be a day of filming on a 100km track before the test begins.
Nate Saunders and Lawrence Edmondson discuss whether they believe F1's 'secret testing' in Barcelona will continue next season.
It is unknown what caused the delays in car manufacturing.Waules chose her words carefully when speaking to the media during the week.“Aggressive” development goals.IT'S a little secret that Vaules was shocked at how lacking Williams' infrastructure was when he signed, but some of that still needs to be addressed behind the scenes.–Saunders
The scale of the challenges facing Audi and Cadillac
The whole point of this week's test was to give the F1 teams more time to face the challenges of the new regulations.It always seemed that some teams needed that time more than others, and it's no surprise that the total number of newcomers Cadillac and the new works team Audi was very low at the end of the week.But the fact that the two were on track every three days represented significant milestones in both projects - especially against the backdrop of Aston Martin's late arrival and Williams' overall no-show.
Cadillac's story is perhaps the more impressive of the two.This team has only 323 days between getting approval to enter F1 laps, but still managed to put a car on track in early January).
Cadillac team principal Graham Loudon said on Friday: "The goal this week has been pretty shaky to get all the tests done and get the reliability tested and have the stable platform that we have."
The first significant run of Audi's all-new F1 engine and gearbox was an achievement in itself.With only one car on track (as opposed to the engine manufacturer's multiple cars supplying customer teams), Audi primarily needed mileage, finishing the test with 243 laps, most of which came on Friday's productive final day.Like Cadillac, we hope to see more laps in Bahrain, but at least Audi's ambitious project has a starting point.--Edmondson
This experiment did not have to take place behind closed doors
Despite the huge interest at the start of the new F1 season, the decision has been made to shut down this week's testing and prevent media and fans from attending.F1 said the team requested that the test be kept private, but the team pointed out that F1 has restrictions on the information, videos and photos that can be released.Even the time at the end of the day (which it must be said is not that important at the start of the season) is not announced but must be gathered from a source looking at the track timing screen.
F1 TV conducted a series of short interviews with drivers and team personnel at the end of each day, but seemingly without the desire to dig beyond the surface issues.Ahead of the test, sources said the real reason F1 insisted on calling the five-day test a "shakedown" was because it had a contractual obligation with Bahrain to host the first official test in February and not steal the thunder from the island nation's track.wanted
Although the scarcity of information from this week's test in Barcelona probably means that interest in Bahrain will be greater than otherwise, it feels as if F1 missed an opportunity to start the year with the story and to surprise the efforts of each team."pre-season slop," as they must expand their knowledge and understanding of these remarkable new cars.-- Edmondson
What we don't know
This field is really widespread
While several teams are already in excellent form, the real test of the new rules will come when action begins in Bahrain.In 2014, Mercedes quickly regained the advantage it had enjoyed for several years, but F1 hopes the new rules circular will create a more level playing field.The current rules have mechanisms built in for teams to adapt if necessary, so fans shouldn't expect the same frequency as the V6 turbo-hybrid era.
However, no matter what obstacles and balances are implemented, the new set of regulations always gives one team a chance to break away from the pack and dominate early.One thing Barcelona gave no indication of this;one team, like Mercedes, could be in front, or it could be a Mercedes and McLaren engine customer, and the rest with the rest.of things to come and the Italian team is also in the mix, while Red Bull could also be stronger than many thought they could be.
You'd expect these four-year-old favorites to stay strong on the grid, but will Aston Martin be in the mix?Could lefties like Haas or Alpine join them as Williams did in 2014, and what about newcomers Audi and Cadillac?
In the end, these are the big success questions that come out of the shakeup.Six days in the desert next month will be a good idea - stay awake, especially in the evening hours set in the evening, under the lights when the temperature of the railway cools -- plan for Melbourne.-- Saunders
Is Ferrari finally a championship contender again?
On that front, Ferrari's test in Barcelona was just as terrifying as Mercedes' - and even more so.The Italian team completed 440 laps (even running in the wet on Tuesday) and set the fastest time in the test on the final day with an effort of 0.097 seconds faster than the target set by George Russell on Thursday.There is a warning that Lewis Hamilton's time has benefited from another 24 hours of improvement.from Russell's, but honestly, we don't have enough information about the two to actually make a reasonable comparison between the two.
The real reason the Ferrari test is more difficult to enjoy than Mercedes is the many seasons of disappointment that the Italian team received after the first commitment.For example, the team arrived last year after successfully finishing for 2024 and a successful test in Bahrain, but finally finished 2025 without winning a race to its name.This is not to say that Ferrari will make the same or similar mistakes this year, it's just that we don't have enough information at this stage to combat the performance disappointments of recent years.
One of the reasons for optimism, however, is that the Barcelona-based Ferrari car is similar to the original in its development and team president Frédéric Vasseur referred to it before the test as a "Spec-A" version built to accumulate mileage rather than use performance.While this has been the case for many teams this week, it opens up the possibility that Ferrari could reach the Bahrain tests and be front row with development.However, until we have a good idea of the limited cars for the opening race in Australia, it's too early to start developing talent around Hamilton's Barcelona lap just yet.-- Edmondson
Will drivers enjoy the new cars?
While the car looks good, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to drive and compete well as the team has had limited media releases over the past week.Over the past five days, there hasn't been much opportunity for in-depth news coverage or in-depth inquiries into the more specific details of these cars.
Nate Saunders and Laurence Edmondson discuss Ferrari's impressive performance in the "secret test" in Barcelona, and whether they think it will continue at the start of the Formula 1 season.
What is interesting about the new generation is the amount of power management that now has to go around - the rise of power has replaced the old help known as DRS.However, dynamic devices are still available.Pilots are expected to constantly communicate with their race engineers (especially in the early stages) about how to best control the active aircraft, given the name given to the front and rear pedals they use.Can be controlled by a button inside the car, something that will be the main talking point at the beginning of the year.
This is a big issue for F1 and an important one.Many drivers began to dislike the ground-effect cars of the past, and F1 improved the new generation for finesse and wheel-to-wheel racing.
One of the biggest critics of old cars is four-time world champion Max Verstappen, undoubtedly the best driver in the field at the moment, and he has previously indicated that he would have no problem leaving the sport if the new cars were no longer fun to drive.This could be the worst-case scenario for F1, but a lot has been staked on these new machines and we still don't know what's behind the usual smiles.Drivers in season are happy to sit in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car, whether they like what they see or not.--Saunders
Has Red Bull got its power?
Ever since Red Bull pledged to produce a standalone power plant by 2026, questions have been raised about whether its bold new strategy will backfire.Honda's original decision to leave the sport after 2021 left the team with no choice but to start from scratch, with the project beginning in earnest at the team's Milton Keynes campus in 2022.
The start of Red Bull Powertrains meant there was a reasonable expectation that it would take some time to reach the level of historic manufacturers such as Mercedes and Ferrari.But the early signs from Barcelona are very promising for the Red Bull-owned and powered-up team, which has completed a total of 623 laps with the new DM01 power unit.
Nate Saunders and Laurence Edmondson examine Aston Martin's lack of a lap at Barcelona and debate whether Adrian Newey's performance gives Aston Martin fans hope.
To make matters worse, Red Bull's aerodynamics team worked with the in-house engine department to enhance the car's overall package, rather than the RB22's slender sidewalls.Coupled with recent speculation that Red Bull is exploiting a loophole in the Mercedes-like specification that allows for higher compression ratios during hot races, Red Bull could be a strong contender.
Of course, it's still early days, so the true potential of Red Bull's power unit remains unknown, but what was once seen as the team's weakness in 2026 may actually be one of its strengths.-- Edmondson
How do Aston and Honda compete?
Aston Martin completed its test run with the smallest team (65) in Barcelona, and the team spent all of Friday running against its rivals with a low engine, which was reflected in the fastest time between the fastest Audi and Cadillac.
Part of the team's big financial project was adding Honda as an exclusive engine partner this year.The Japanese manufacturer briefly decided to pull out of Formula 1 in 2021, halting all future projects, but was lured back to the table by Aston when Honda's partnership with Red Bull ended last year, a major engine change always happening when regulations changed.
One easy conclusion is that Fernando Alonso is headed for another disappointing season like the one he had at McLaren with Honda and that his team is not at all ready for the new season.But any delay in Aston Martin's launch should come with a clear warning: Adrian Newey.
Promoted to team lead for the project late last year, the legendary designer has always pushed the boundaries of development in previews.When he was at Red Bull, it was not unusual for the team to have completely different cars from one predictive test to the next.Aston Martin's delayed start week suggests a similar philosophy is at play in his time.
