F1 2026 - so far

Bahrain 1st test

I’m about to tell you not to believe anything from testing, which pretty much renders this column null and void. But please stick with me for a bit longer, because there were a few things that caught the eye in Bahrain this week.

Firstly, reliability seems pretty impressive, which is not always an easy thing to achieve, especially with such a huge raft of rule changes. Red Bull should be relieved considering it is the first time they have produced their own engine. As a new team with so many unknowns, Cadillac will feel the same emotion. 320 laps over the three days is an impressive feat in their first meaningful F1 test.

McLaren and Williams completed the most laps, 422 each. Ferrari did just one fewer, with 421. Mercedes had issues but look competitive; they managed 282 laps, and the only team with fewer laps was Aston Martin with 206.

But some drivers are not totally convinced about this chapter of Formula One. Heavy hitters Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Max Verstappen have been pretty vocal already. The double world champion Alonso claimed that with reduced speeds and the focus on energy management, ‘the chef’ could drive Turn 12 in Bahrain now.

Max Verstappen described it as ‘Formula E on steroids’.

F1 bosses will not be happy with the comments so far, but they will also know that if either of these drivers are competitive or win another championship, then their complaints will undoubtedly soften as the year goes on.

Whilst last week was all about mileage, this week’s test will be focused on performance. Lap times will be more relevant.

As we saw with Audi’s new side pods last week, bodywork will continue to change and develop to be more in line with how the cars will look when they take to the track for the Australian Grand Prix next month. There are still three weeks until the first race but in seven days time we’ll have more of an idea about who is feeling happiest.