Feb 19, 2026
3 min read
All 11 teams were able to test their brand-new cars over three days at the Bahrain International Circuit.
SAKHIR, Bahrain - After holding the first test of the season behind closed doors at the end of January.We finally got an official look at Formula 1 in 2026 this week.
With Barcelona's cold snap behind them, all 11 teams were able to test their new cars at the Bahrain International Circuit for three days this week.Make the most of the warm, dry weather.
This gives the team a better read on how the new car will perform, as the conditions are closer to what they will experience in this year's race.But in the round of the usual F1 game of smoke and mirrors through pre-season testing, and some paddock politics in the background, the competitive picture is not clear.
However, here's what we learned from F1's second pre-season test in Bahrain...
F1’s ‘big four’ remains, but in what order?
The general consensus in the F1 paddock after the Barcelona test was that Mercedes were the team to beat given their consistent and reliable start to winter driving.
But Bahrain somewhat disputed that view.McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes each set the fastest time on the first day, while Red Bull was widely praised for the performance of its new engine and the advantage of the electric design.Such is the nature of F1 games, this week each of the leading teams marked each other as under-favourites at this early stage, which was all the more interesting given the ongoing engine line-up.
But it was the Mercedes that finished the test fastest, despite being cautious about its performance.Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time in the final session of the test at 1m33.669s, beating Russell by two tenths of a second.No other driver went under the 1m34s barrier throughout the test and this lap was particularly impressive given that Russell had set his time in the morning session.
The timelines show that the “big four” remained stable despite the revised laws, which is not surprising given their experience and resources.The exact process seems difficult to define.
Red Bull's engine exceeded expectations
While Red Bull asks for patience with its plans for a new engine - which, in the words of Alpine's Steve Nelson, was "a hole in the ground" just a few years ago - Bahrain has further boosted confidence in the Ford-backed project.
Regardless of all the competitor's posturing about possible advantages for the Red Bull engine, the fact that it has operated reliably throughout the two tests with Red Bull and the sister team, Racing Bulls, is a great confirmation that it is on the right track and, it seems, in the competition at the front.
Red Bull driver Ishaq Hajjar admitted that the engine was "beyond" his expectations, as the team had lowered their expectations internally. "Even within the team, they were not completely satisfied," Hajjar said."In Barcelona, on the first day, I did 110 laps straight away, so I was surprised in a very positive way. For a team that started the project three years ago, it's very impressive."
Fears that Red Bull would be significantly behind with its new engine have been allayed by the first two tests.This alone represents a very encouraging start for the team.
Aston Martin's problems seem real
After the fall of Barcelona, Aston Martin, who only made 61 steps after the start of the last period, was worried about the two teams, Williams did not go to Barcelona at all because of the delay in production.
Williams went a long way to allaying those concerns in Bahrain, finishing filming two days before a solid and reliable run.He completed 422 laps, tying McLaren for the longest lap of the week.
But Aston Martin did little to facilitate the investigation.The Adrian Newey-designed, Honda-powered AMR26 might be attractive for its unusual solutions, but it completed the fewest laps of any team (206) and when it did, there wasn't much sign of speed.
Lance Stroll expressed his dismay at the lack of mileage in the match between Bahrain and Barcelona on Thursday."At the moment we are four seconds, four and a half seconds behind the leading teams," said Stroll."It's impossible to know what the fuel loads are and what people are doing. But now we have to try to find the four-second figure."
His teammate, Fernando Alonso, didn't put too much money into it, noting that refining the car could "open seconds" and knowledge would grow.But he admitted the team is not where he wants it to be."We're honest, we're not rushing to Melbourne," Alonso said.
Aston Martin hardly wants to start a new 'era' in 2026 defined by Newey, the most decorated car designer in the history of F1, to be at the helm. In addition, the beginning of the work was supported by the Honda engine department, but the team is preparing for a difficult start to the season.
Drivers are still adjusting to the new cars
Max Verstappen may have been surprisingly direct in his jab at F1's new cars on Thursday night in Bahrain, calling them "anti-competitive" and "like Formula E on steroids".Still, they're a brutal example of how different these cars are to drive, even if no other driver is quite as strong.
The test days in Bahrain gave the drivers another chance to get used to the new car and find the best ways to squeeze every tenth of a step out of them, encouraging some unusual behavior.
One expected tactic was to drop the car into first gear in the slowest corners.Previously this was only required for a few corners on the F1 calendar.Now the drivers have done it in Bahrain at Turn 1, which is normally a third gear corner.
Russell explained that shifting into first gear is useful for keeping the engine revs high and the turbo spinning.This can destabilize the car, meaning drivers have to work to keep it under control when they drop into such a low gear.Russell asked the reporters to imagine driving down the road and suddenly shifting into first gear before making a screeching noise for effect.
Another adjustment for drivers in 2026 is the departure procedure.Looking at the end of the pit lane, the cars sound different when they do the practice starts because they need time to raise the turbo before backing off.It is a more complicated art than before - perhaps too complicated.
More baby steps for Cadillac and Audi
Following the unveiling of its Super Bowl livery, Cadillac returned to business as usual in Bahrain as it took part in its first public F1 test, where it already looked at home.
Its tally of 320 laps put it ahead of the Alpine, Mercedes and Aston Martin in mileage, although it struggled with some cooling issues during the test.It is unlikely to adequately push the front runners, or perhaps even the established midfield, up close in Australia.But it seems well ahead of the newcomers who have struggled in previous F1 eras.
The message from Cadillac, which has experienced drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez on its books, is that it wants to manage expectations and build itself.2026 is about earning the respect of the rest of the network.So far, it's doing exactly that.
Audi, which took over from Sauber at the end of last year in Bahrain, gave its first F1 engine a little longer on the legs.He also had a few teething problems during testing but managed 354 laps for the week.The new slimline kidney design also caught the eye on pit road, but after passing the first hurdles with the new car and engine in Barcelona, it shows the commitment to performance.
The Formula 1 world should not expect this year from either Cadillac or Audi, it is the experience of the existing grid.But neither team compromised their confidence with a testy performance in Bahrain.
McLaren wants changes to standards for safety reasons
At the end of Friday's test run, several cars lined up on the grid to finish without stopping, creating an erratic, confusing and slower track for the rest of the cars because the lights were out.
Oscar Piastri, one of the drivers on the starting line, explained that the instructions did not make it clear to the drivers when they had to stop and that this dangerous moment was not due to the increased problems of exiting the track this year.
However, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has suggested that changes to the start process need to be considered before the start of the new season in Australia.
Stella emphasized that starting, overtaking and slowing down are three areas that need to be addressed.For starters, Stella expressed concern that all the cars were ready to go off the grid, given the time it takes for the turbo to spin up.Adjusting the timing of the startup procedure could be a possible solution.
In terms of overtaking, Stella noted the potential for some major incidents, such as Mark Webber's accident at Valencia in 2012, if the car decided to pull back to gather energy at the end of the straight while being closely followed by another car.One possible way to correct this was to enable no-lift harvesting.He also believed that allowing less spin per lap would help improve overtaking which would essentially make the boost stronger and prevent drivers from having to dive the bomb to try to pass.
Stella said it was "urgent" to consider changes ahead of the start of the new season in Australia on March 8, particularly around safety issues.His driver Piastri, speaking shortly after Stella's speech, named the grid issues as his biggest concern.
"I think the start is probably pretty obvious right now," Piastri said."It will always be difficult to pass until you have already done the race. (That too) regardless of whether we use Straight Mode at the start or not, because I think that a pack of 22 cars with a few hundreds to reduce the slowdown sounds like a bread of disaster to me."
But it's unclear how much support these concerns have through the rest of the mantra.
Discussions are expected to take place at a meeting of the F1 commission, which includes all 11 groups, F1 and the FIA, next Wednesday.Given how close F1 is to the start of the new season, any rule changes will require significant support to continue - unless the FIA deems it necessary for safety reasons, which would matter.
Nevertheless, this is the second political battle that could erupt between the teams over the new rules, three weeks before the start of the new season.
