Formula 1 News

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. The youngster then reeled off 91 laps after the break, including what he said was a ...Keep 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 downforce usually means more complaints from the person behind the wheel. The FIA, however, hopes that this ...Keep 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 Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. With teams able to pick and choose a maximum of three days to run at the ...Keep 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 to run continuously until Friday evening – each team is allowed three days of testing this week.
Lando Norris was ...Keep 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 in Barcelona, losing three days of running in Spain.
The reason given was "delays ...Keep 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 running the SF-26, Charles Leclerc was able to complete his first laps on a soaking track ...Keep 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 nightmare first half of the season.
Seven years later, Red Bull signed sophomore ...Keep reading

Franco Colapinto is looking “much more mature” ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season, according to Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore.
The young Argentinian is set to contest his first full F1 campaign, having previously stepped into a race seat mid-season in 2024 with Williams and then again at Alpine in 2025, replacing Jack Doohan from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ...Keep reading

As Flavio Briatore said at Alpine's 2026 launch in Barcelona, his team has no more excuses. But rather than dreading the added pressure, a character-building 2025 has meant the team has been counting the days until it could finally show what it can do.
It was hard not to notice Alpine was in a buoyant mood as it kickstarted its new year on the MSC World Europa, with Pierre Gasly and Franco ...Keep reading

Ferrari has become the first team to publicly show the use of active aerodynamics that is part of the new Formula 1 rules era, after it was spotted during the SF26 shakedown at Fiorano.
Having been seen on several videos to explain how it will work, this technology has been officially published on Formula 1's own channels, clearly showing the aerodynamic elements at work.
But fans will have ...Keep reading