F1 Winter Testing Wrap Up
Let's talk all things F1 Winter Testing!
We have officially concluded the 2026 Formula 1 Winter Test in Bahrain this past week. Let’s talk about some of the major highlights and themes of this year’s winter test.
Highlights of Testing
If you felt like this Formula 1 test felt different than the tests we have seen in the past, your intuition would be correct. This test did feel different. This year we are witnessing the largest regulation changes the sport has seen in its history; between the new battery/power unit regulation changes and the aerodynamic regulation changes, this is a drastic change from last year. There are some teams who seemed to have missed the mark, and others who seemed to have hit a home run. Let’s start with those who have seemed to have nailed it.
Starting off on the strongest foot we have the Mercedes and Ferrari teams. Mercedes seem to be one of the title favorites for this season. The car looks very stable and very reliable. Throughout the two weeks of testing and the shakedown in Barcelona, the Mercedes team has had the most reliable car having run the most amount of laps. The only hiccup being having to completely change power units during the first week of the winter test. So far, that has been the only weakness we have seen out of the German powerhouse.
Right behind Mercedes we have Ferrari. They have turned quite a few heads during the winter test. Not only was the car extremely reliable throughout the shakedown and two weeks of testing, it looked absolutely rapid. Ferrari started off the winter testing with the car looking a little unsettled, but by the end the car looked glued to the track with Charles Leclerc taking certain corners flat out where others had to lift. If the Scuderia can make those adjustments that quickly in just a week’s worth of testing, I can’t imagine what they are going to accomplish over a season.
For Ferrari this test felt different. It hasn’t been rare to see Ferrari be quick during a winter test - thinking of 2019, 2022, and 2024. However, those cars had flaws and they were pretty apparent flaws at that. This year, it looks like they don’t have any flaws. The team and drivers seem to enjoy the car quite a bit, which is something we haven’t seen from Ferrari in quite a long time. Is this going to be Ferrari’s year? It is way too early to tell, but Ferrari fans should feel encouraged from these two weeks of testing.
Lowlights
A few teams had pretty quiet winter tests with some minor reliability issues, or the occasional instability in the car. A lot of teams were taking the tests just to get used to the new regulations and just feel things out. This is all pretty typical winter testing stuff. There were some teams however, who were having a rough go of things.
Most notably, teams like Aston Martin and Audi seemed to struggle… a lot. Both Aston Martin and Audi had major reliability issues as well as being significantly off the pace from the leaders. Now… I know lap times aren’t everything in winter testing. However, teams being over a second , sometimes multiple seconds, off of the pace of the leaders is not where you want to be heading into the first race of the season.
One of the most glaring problems I saw from the test was the fact that Audi seemingly couldn’t get the car over 200 mph on the longest straight of the Bahrain circuit.
The other talk of the town was the battery side of the power units - and not in a good way. The overall consensus from the drivers and teams is that the new power units are quite complicated to say the least. A lot of drivers share the feeling of everything being way too complicated which strips the fun of the sport away. Some drivers have mentioned that this is not what Formula 1 is supposed to feel like. Fernando Alonso mentioned that it feels like “you have to have a degree” to be able to drive these cars. Other drivers saying it feels more like chess and not just using all out talent to drive the cars.
Max Verstappen was quoted in saying “it is like Formula E on steroids” and Lewis Hamilton saying “the cars feel slower than Formula 2”. These are pretty scathing statements regarding the new regulations and many other drivers back them.
With the growing dislike of the regulations, it will be interesting to see what changes in the future… if anything does change at all. With the battery recharge and usage along with the complicated deployment systems, I could see the drivers getting over these regulations pretty quickly and demanding a simplification of the power units.
Now that testing is officially over, we look forward to the first race of the season in just one week’s time in Australia. The first race of the season is rapidly approaching and the anticipation is growing stronger by the day. We will see how the first race of the season goes and will be back with you after Melbourne.