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We had onlookers looking through binoculars on the mountain. We have noisy security guards to ward off unwanted intruders. We had a broadcast blackout, the ultimate fly-on-the-wall paradox formula one racing era.
All in all, this week brought a strange start to the 2026 season in Barcelona. This week’s five-day “test drive” event – essentially the team’s first test of the new car – will be held behind closed doors, which always seemed odd on a pre-season schedule. Despite a total of 40 hours of track time, the release of photos, videos, interviews and lap times is still restricted.
However, the information inevitably leaked. There are two more pre-season testing The team has not been in top form ahead of next month’s trip to Bahrain and the season opener in Australia on March 8. Considering Williams’ performance, there are some who have excelled in testing Absent due to car delay.
like Benz and red bull soon left the block, while ferrari, mclaren and Aston Martin Joining later in the week maximizes their development time. Mileage on the track varies, but for new teams like Audi and Cadillac, each lap helps them gather critical data to prepare for the race ahead.
But who are the winners and losers from this week’s first pre-season test?
Winner
Benz
The front-runners heading into the season have done a great job developing their power units in 2014, and nothing this week did anything to diminish that tag. In fact, it has solidified.
The Silver Arrows were the first car out of the pits at 9am on Monday morning and achieved some impressive results. By the end of the third day of running, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had completed 500 laps. Not only that, Antonelli was fastest on day two and Russell was fastest on day four.
Of course, this week’s lap times should be taken with a grain of salt. There should be more responsibility on the leaderboard during the final pre-season test in Bahrain (February 18-20). But in the wet conditions of Catalonia, the Mercedes’ reliability and sheer speed were impressive. There were no crashes and no deviations from the planned track time.
The chatter in the paddock is that Mercedes are now no longer focusing on reliability and are actually fine-tuning their car’s set-up. If you had to pick a favorite piece of clothing right now, Toto Wolfe’s clothing would be in pole position.
Red Bull-Ford
Red Bull’s fascinating new engine partnership with US giant Ford hasn’t been without its challenges. It was an apparent setback when Isack Hadjar crashed late on Tuesday, causing serious damage to his rear suspension.
However, Hajar was the fastest man on day one and Max Verstappen enjoyed a full day of running on Friday, with spares flown in from Milton Keynes at the last minute. The Bulls also completed 321 laps; for British rookie Arvid Lindblad, the experience was crucial.
Russell has been impressed with Red Bull, who, at least as far as we know, haven’t suffered a setback with their power unit. There has been much discussion about whether a new engine manufacturer can truly challenge for the top in its first season. So far, there are no obvious alarm bells, which must be a positive.
ferrari
Given the disastrous campaigns Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton have endured in 2025, you have your fingers crossed as well as mine. But overall it was a solid week’s work for Ferrari.
Test a new car a new philosophy – including new pushrod front and rear suspension – Scuderia Ferrari set out in wet conditions on Tuesday, opting not to modify the race order. That in itself speaks to a confident team.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton both lit up the clocks, with the seven-time world champion setting the fastest time of the week in the final hour, a tenth faster than Russell on Thursday. They also logged more than 400 laps with participation from Cadillac and Haas, with the power unit completing nearly 900 laps. Ferraris are known for their mechanical problems, but here, none were visible to the public.
loser
mclaren
The World Champions’ slow progress this week is questionable. Zac Brown’s uniforms, temporarily wearing black, didn’t hit the field until late Wednesday morning for the third day of action.
Team principal Andrea Stella insists this is to maximize development time as their car is unlikely to fundamentally change between now and Melbourne. However, Oscar Piastri spent most of Thursday sitting in the garage due to a fuel system issue.
Norris’s fast lap later on Friday (just a tenth behind Russell) should be cause for optimism. However, McLaren appears to be at a disadvantage at this stage compared to its usual rivals. Of course, that’s not to say their talented engineering team, led by former Red Bull guru Rob Marshall, can’t turn things around in the coming weeks.
Aston Martin
The unveiling of Adrian Newey’s first car as chief designer of Aston Martin was pretty wild. It wasn’t until the final hour on Thursday that Lance Stroll took to the track in an AMR26, just like a McLaren in an all-black livery.
Speculation is rife that much of the delay is related to fine-tuning of the new Honda power unit. As a result, Aston has only conducted limited testing, with Fernando Alonso getting his first taste of the car on Friday.
There’s an interesting caveat, though: Astons are very unique compared to other cars in the segment. The nose (wider than normal), sidepods (thin and with a large undercut) and bonnet (cut off) are all different from the competition. What big move does Newey have this time?
Audi
Despite being one of the first teams out of the pits on Monday, amid the excitement, Audi has had some issues this week.
Gabriel Bortoleto completed 27 laps on Monday before encountering unknown problems, while Nico Hulkenberg was forced off track on Wednesday with a hydraulic failure.
Apart from Cadillac, which also encountered some problems, and Aston, which arrived late, Audi completed the fewest laps of the week, around 200 laps. No one expected these two new teams to reach the top in their first few years on the scene. As the season-opening Grand Prix approaches, Audi and Cadillac have more hurdles to overcome. The next test will be held in Bahrain from February 11 to 13.
