What we learned from F1’s second preseason test: McLaren’s concerns, trouble for Aston Martin
SAKHIR, Bahrain — After holding its first preseason test behind closed doors at the end of January, we finally got a proper glimpse of Formula 1 in 2026 this week.
With the cold of Barcelona now behind them, all 11 teams were able to put their all-new cars through their paces at the Bahrain International Circuit for three days this week, making the most of the warm, dry weather.
It offered teams a better read of just how their new cars may perform, given the conditions are closer to what they’ll experience in races this year. But against the context of F1’s usual game of smoke and mirrors through preseason testing, and some paddock politicking brewing in the background, the competitive picture is not obvious.
Nevertheless, here’s what we’ve learned from F1’s second preseason test in Bahrain…
F1’s ‘big four’ remains, but in what order?
The general consensus through the F1 paddock following the Barcelona test was that Mercedes was the team to beat, given its consistent, reliable start to the winter running.
But Bahrain muddled that outlook somewhat. McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes set the fastest time on one day each, while Red Bull was subject to plenty of praise for the performance of its new engine and a touted electrical deployment advantage. Such is the nature of F1 gamesmanship, the week featured each of the front-running teams pointing at each other when tipping a favorite at this early stage, which was all the more interesting given the ongoing engine row.
But it was Mercedes that, despite the caution it urged over its performance, still ended the test fastest. Kimi Antonelli set a fastest time of 1m33.669s in the final session of the test, beating Russell by two-tenths of a second. No other driver dipped below the 1m34s barrier throughout the test, and given Russell set his time in the hotter morning session, that lap was especially impressive.
The timesheets do indicate that the ‘big four’ remains intact despite the rules overhaul, which is not surprising given their experience and resources. Quite what the exact order looks like is harder to decipher.
Red Bull’s engine has exceeded expectations
For all the patience that Red Bull asked for over its brand new engine project — one that was “a hole in the ground” a few years ago, to quote Alpine’s Steve Nielsen — Bahrain served as a further boost in confidence for the Ford-supported program.
Regardless of all the posturing from rivals about the possible advantage for Red Bull’s engine, the fact that it has run so reliably across both tests with Red Bull and the sister team, Racing Bulls, is a massive endorsement that it is on the right track and, seemingly, in contention at the front.
Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar admitted the engine was “way beyond” his expectations, given the team was even downplaying its hopes internally. “Even within the team, they were not completely satisfied,” Hadjar said. “In Barcelona, day one, I did 110 laps straight away, so I was, in a very positive way, surprised. For a team that started the project three years ago, it’s very impressive.”
Any fears about Red Bull being significantly behind with its new engine have surely been allayed through the first two tests. That alone marks a very encouraging start for the team.
Fernando Alonso may not be driving a fast car for a while (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Aston Martin’s struggles look genuine
After the Barcelona shakedown, concerns chiefly hung over two teams: Aston Martin, which only managed 61 laps after debuting late on the penultimate day; and Williams, which didn’t make it to Barcelona at all due to production delays.
Williams went a long way to easing those concerns in Bahrain, having completed two filming days before some solid, reliable running. It completed 422 laps, tying with McLaren for the most mileage this week.
But Aston Martin did little to ease scrutiny. The Adrian Newey-designed, Honda-powered AMR26 may be eye-catching due to some unusual solutions, but it managed the fewest laps of any team (206) and, when it did, there wasn’t a great sign of pace.
Lance Stroll cast a very bleak view on Thursday, noting the mileage deficit to the competition between Bahrain and Barcelona. “Right now, we look like we’re four seconds off the top teams, four and a half seconds,” Stroll said. “It’s impossible to know what fuel loads and everything people are running. But now we need to try and find four seconds of performance.”
His teammate, Fernando Alonso, didn’t put quite a big number on it, and noted that optimizing the car could “unlock seconds” as the understanding grew. But he accepted the team was not where it wanted to be. “We are realistic, we will not be the fastest in Melbourne,” said Alonso. “We started on the slow side and on the back foot, but (it is) difficult to guess exactly where (we will be).”
It’s hardly how Aston Martin wanted to start its new ‘era’ in 2026 that is defined by having Newey, the most decorated car designer in F1 history, at the helm, plus the start of works support from Honda’s engine division. Instead, the team is braced for a tough start to the season.
Drivers are still adjusting to the new cars
Max Verstappen may have been incredibly direct with his skewering of F1’s new cars on Thursday night in Bahrain, calling them “anti-racing” and “like Formula E on steroids.” Yet it stood as a brutal illustration of just how different these cars are to drive, even if no other driver was quite so strong.
The Bahrain test days gave drivers a further chance to adjust to the new cars and work out the best ways to squeeze every last tenth of pace out of them, prompting some unusual tricks.
One tactic that had been anticipated was dropping the car as far down as first gear on the slowest corners. Previously, it was only needed for a couple of corners on the F1 calendar. Now drivers were doing it into Turn 1 in Bahrain, which is usually a third-gear corner.
Russell explained that going into first gear was helpful to maintain high revs on the engine and keep the turbo spinning. The offset is that it can destabilize the car, meaning drivers may have to work to keep it under control as they fall down to such a low gear. Russell asked reporters to imagine driving a road car and suddenly pulling first gear, before making a screeching sound for effect.
Another adjustment for drivers in 2026 will be the start procedure. Watching at the end of the pit lane, the cars sound different when making a practice start because they need time to spool up the turbo before pulling away. It’s a much trickier art than before — potentially too tricky.
Sergio Perez gets out of the car after coming to a stop on track during day two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 12, 2026 (Joe Portlock/Getty Images)
More baby steps for Cadillac and Audi
After all the hubbub around its Super Bowl livery unveil, Cadillac returned to its usual business in Bahrain as it took part in its first public F1 test, where it already looked at home on the grid.
Its tally of 320 laps put it ahead of Alpine, Mercedes and Aston Martin for mileage, despite struggling with some cooling issues through the test. It’s not likely to be properly pushing the front-runners, or perhaps even the established midfield, from the off in Australia. But it seems far ahead of the struggling newcomers in previous eras of F1.
The message from Cadillac, which has veteran drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez on its books, is that it wants to manage expectations and build itself up. 2026 is about earning the respect of the rest of the grid. So far, it’s doing exactly that.
Bahrain also gave a chance for Audi, which took over the Sauber team at the end of last year, to stretch the legs of its first F1 engine a bit more. It too had a couple of teething issues through the test, but racked up 354 laps to make for a solid week of running. Its new slim sidepod design also caught attention in the pit lane, as well as signaling its hunt for performance after getting through the first hurdles with the new car and engine in Barcelona.
F1 shouldn’t expect the world from either Cadillac or Audi this year, such is the experience of the existing grid. But neither team did any harm to its credibility through their test showing in Bahrain.
McLaren wants rule changes on safety grounds
At the end of Friday’s test running, a handful of cars lined up on the grid to complete some standing starts. It turned into a messy, staggered and somewhat sluggish getaway for the other cars in reaction to the lights going out.
Oscar Piastri, who was one of the cars on the grid, explained that the instructions given to the drivers made it unclear when to pull away, and that the dicey moments weren’t down to the added difficulty of getting off the line this year.
But Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, was strong in suggesting that changes had to be considered to the start procedure before the new season even begins in Australia.
Stella highlighted starts, overtaking, and drivers lifting and coasting as being three areas that had to be addressed. For starts, Stella raised concerns about all cars being ready to pull away from the grid, given the time it takes for the turbo to spool up. Adjusting the timings for the start procedure would be a potential solution.
For overtaking, Stella noted the potential for some big accidents, such as Mark Webber’s airborne crash at Valencia in 2012, if a car opts to lift off to harvest energy at the end of a straight when being closely followed by another car. One possible way to remedy this would be to allow harvesting without lifting off. He also believed that allowing less deployment on a lap would help improve overtaking, essentially making the boost more powerful, and stop drivers from needing to make dive-bomb moves to try and pass.
Stella said it was “imperative” that changes are considered, especially given the safety considerations, before the new season begins in Australia on Mar. 8. His driver, Piastri, flagged the start concerns as being the gravest for him when speaking shortly after Stella.
“I think the starts are probably the most obvious one for now,” Piastri said. “Overtaking is always going to be tough to manage until you’ve actually had a race. (It’s also) whether we use Straight Mode at the start or not as well, because I think a pack of 22 cars with a couple of hundred points less downforce sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.”
But it is unclear how much support those concerns have through the rest of the paddock.
Discussions are set to take place at the F1 Commission meeting, which includes all 11 teams, F1 and the FIA, next Wednesday. Given how close F1 is to the start of the new season, any rule changes would require extensive support to be pushed through — unless the FIA deems them necessary on safety grounds, which would leave it incontestable.
Regardless, it serves as a second political battle that could emerge between teams over these new rules with just three weeks to go until the start of the new season.
