It has been a very weird week in the world of Formula 1: cars have hit the track for the first time in 2026 but the general public, media included, has only been drip-fed information. In a world where everything is usually on constant demand, putting the Barcelona shakedown behindContinue Reading
Alpine needs to turn a page in its history. Team boss Flavio Briatore insisted on swapping from Renault to Mercedes power, removing one long-standing excuse for its underperformance. The Enstone-based team finished last year at the bottom of the constructors’ championship and its engineers have responded by exploiting the new regulationsContinue Reading
Mercedes has delivered a strong start to the 2026 Formula 1 pre-season as Andrea Kimi Antonelli completed a full race simulation on day two.The Mercedes W17 ran reliably on both Monday and Wednesday, with George Russell having completed 92 laps by lunchtime yesterday before handing over the car to Antonelli.Continue Reading
Almost every driver who has run so far during the Formula 1 shakedown in Barcelona came up with the same line after climbing out of the car: “It’s very different from what we’re used to.”That starts with the fact that the 2026 cars have considerably less downforce, and less downforceContinue Reading
Lando Norris says driving around as the reigning Formula 1 world champion was a “surreal” feeling as he took to the track in Barcelona for a day of discovering his 2026 McLaren MCL40.McLaren delayed its start to pre-season testing until Wednesday, the third of five shakedown days at the CircuitContinue Reading
There was a lot more action on the third day of Formula 1’s pre-season shakedown which, as is common knowledge by now, is taking place behind closed doors in Barcelona.Six out of 11 teams took to the track, including McLaren, which skipped the first two days but is planning toContinue Reading
Williams Formula 1 team boss James Vowles says it is “incredibly painful” for his squad to miss out the Barcelona shakedown test this week, but denies rumours the team’s car will be significantly overweight.Last week Williams abandoned its plans to attend F1’s first testing opportunity of the 2026 pre-season inContinue Reading
Although only two teams took to the track on the second day of Formula 1’s five-day ‘shakedown’ behind closed doors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, there was plenty of material for analysis.During the morning, as Ferrari focused on data collection and logging mileage on its first proper day of runningContinue Reading
Seven years ago, Red Bull signed sophomore Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly as Max Verstappen’s new team-mate following the Frenchman’s convincing rookie season, forgoing a more experienced option in Carlos Sainz – but Gasly crashed twice at Barcelona in pre-season testing and was demoted to Toro Rosso after a nightmareContinue Reading
The initial filming day for Racing Bulls at Imola and the collective shakedown in Barcelona mark the first steps for Red Bull-Ford Powertrains on track.The partnership came about after Red Bull’s negotiations with Porsche – which wanted to be a partner “on equal footing” – broke down and Ford Performance directorContinue Reading