We had onlookers peering by means of binoculars on the hills. We had boisterous safety guards heading off undesirable intruders. And we had a broadcast blackout, the last word paradox on this fly-on-the-wall period.
All in all, it was a peculiar begin to the 2026 season this week in Barcelona. It at all times regarded an oddity on the pre-season schedule that this week’s five-day “shakedown” occasion – basically referring to the primary event a group trials its new automobile – can be held in secret. There was a restrict on images, movies, interviews and the discharge of lap instances, regardless of 40 hours of observe time in whole.
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But inevitably, info has leaked out. With two extra to return in Bahrain subsequent month, forward of the season-opener in Australia on 8 March, this was not the groups acting at their optimum. Some did nicely to make the check in any respect, given Williams’s
The likes of and had been out of the blocks rapidly, whereas , and maximised their improvement time in becoming a member of later within the week. The miles clocked different up and down the grid however for brand new groups, like Audi and Cadillac, each lap helped as they gathered essential knowledge to arrange for the marketing campaign forward.
However who had been the winners and losers from this week’s first pre-season check?
WinnersMercedes
The frontrunners heading into this season, such was their prowess of their energy unit improvement again in 2014, nothing this week has dampened that label. The truth is, it has solidified.
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The Silver Arrows had been the primary automobile out of the pit-lane at 9am on Monday morning and racked up some spectacular feats. By the tip of their third day of operating, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had accomplished 500 laps between them. Not solely that, however Antonelli was quickest on day two and Russell on day 4. On the time of writing, the Briton’s time is the quickest we’ve seen all week.
After all, lap instances needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, this week of all weeks. Extra onus needs to be positioned on the leaderboard on the last pre-season check in Bahrain (18-20 February). However Mercedes’s reliability and outright pace was spectacular amidst the dampness of Catalunya. There have been no crashes and no deviations from deliberate observe time.
The discuss of the paddock is that Mercedes at the moment are past specializing in reliability and are literally fine-tuning their automobile setup. For those who needed to decide a favorite proper now, Toto Wolff’s outfit can be on pole place.
George Russell’s Mercedes group impressed this week (Getty Photographs)
Crimson Bull-Ford
It wasn’t utterly plain crusing for Crimson Bull’s fascinating new engine partnership with American large Ford. Isack Hadjar’s crash late on Tuesday, triggering a badly-damaged rear suspension, was clearly a setback.
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Nonetheless, Hadjar was the quickest man on day one and Max Verstappen loved a full day of operating on Friday, with spare components flown in on the final minute from Milton Keynes. Racing Bulls additionally accomplished 321 laps; vital expertise for British rookie Arvid Lindblad.
Russell was impressed with Crimson Bull as, not less than to our information, they suffered no energy unit setbacks. A lot has been made from whether or not a brand new engine producer can actually problem on the prime of their debut season. So far, there are not any evident alarm bells, which must be a optimistic.
Max Verstappen testing in Barcelona (Crimson Bull Racing)
Ferrari
Your fingers are crossed as a lot as mine are, given the disastrous 2025 marketing campaign Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton endured. However total, it was a stable week’s work for the Scuderia.
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Testing a brand new automobile which has – together with a contemporary pushrod entrance and rear suspension – the Scuderia began on Tuesday in moist circumstances, opting to not amend their order of play. That in itself spoke of a group with a quiet confidence.
And whereas Charles Leclerc nor Hamilton lit up the timing sheets, they clocked up greater than 400 laps and their energy unit accomplished practically 900, with Cadillac and Haas’ involvement. Ferrari are identified for mechanical points however, right here, there have been none seen to the general public eye.
Lewis Hamilton testing the 2026 Ferrari F1 automobile in Barcelona (Scuderia Ferrari)
LosersMcLaren
It was suspicious that the world champions had been sluggish out of the blocks this week. Pencilled in for day three, Zak Brown’s outfit (decked in a short lived black livery) didn’t enter the sphere of play till late on Wednesday morning.
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Crew principal Andrea Stella insisted this was to maximise improvement time, with their automobile unlikely to alter radically between now and Melbourne. But Oscar Piastri was sat within the storage for many of Thursday, as a result of a gasoline methods concern.
Norris’s fast lap (only a tenth off Russell) late on Friday ought to give trigger for optimism. Nonetheless, in comparison with their typical rivals, McLaren look to be on the back-foot at this stage. That’s to not say, after all, their glorious engineering group, headed by ex-Crimson Bull guru Rob Marshall, can’t flip the tables within the weeks forward.
Lando Norris testing the 2026 McLaren F1 automobile in Barcelona (McLaren Components 1 group)
Aston Martin
It was all fairly frantic within the unveiling of Adrian Newey’s first automobile as Aston Martin designer-in-chief. It was solely within the last hour on Thursday that Lance Stroll took to the observe within the AMR26, like McLaren decked in an all-black livery.
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Hypothesis is rife that a lot of the delays had been to do with fine-tuning the brand new Honda energy unit. As such, Aston solely ran a restricted programme, with Fernando Alonso getting a primary style of the automobile with a small quantity of operating on Friday.
There may be an intriguing caveat, although: the Aston automobile could be very distinctive in comparison with the remainder of the sphere. The nostril (wider than regular), sidepods (skinny with a heavy undercut) and engine cowl (minimize away) are all completely different to their opponents. What does Newey have up his sleeve this time?
Fernando Alonso testing in Barcelona (Aston Martin F1)
Audi
Regardless of being one of many first groups to emerge from the pit-lane on Monday, amid a lot pleasure, Audi encountered a number of issues this week.
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Gabriel Bortoleto accomplished 27 laps on Monday earlier than encountering an unknown concern whereas Nico Hulkenberg was pressured to cease out on observe on Wednesday after a hydraulic failure.
Other than Cadillac, who additionally had a few issues, and late arrivals Aston, Audi accomplished the least quantity of laps of the week at round 200. No person is anticipating these two new groups to be competing on the very summit of their first few years on the grid. There’ll be many extra obstacles for Audi and Cadillac to beat as we shut in on the season-opening grand prix. The subsequent check is in Bahrain on 11-13 February.
Audi’s new F1 automobile at their launch in Berlin final week (AFP/Getty)
