This week, teams will start testing the 2026 cars at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Although not every team has revealed its 2026 race livery (e.g., champions McLaren and newcomer Cadillac plan to reveal theirs in February), all teams except Williams will attend Barcelona next week.
The teams have three testing days within a 5-day week. They select which days to test but cannot exceed three days.
McLaren and Ferrari have announced they will skip the first day of testing to maximise development time before testing.
READ MORE: Williams set to miss Barcelona shakedown as they chase “maximum performance”
Here’s what we know so far about the 2026 challengers:
Every team has successfully run its 2026 engine.
Rumours heavily suggested that Mercedes’ 2026 engine would be the top engine among the five powering the grid this season as the winter break began. Mercedes found a ‘loophole’ in the engine regulations, allowing its engine to outperform every other on the grid, turning this rumour into drama.
While the FIA has not officially confirmed whether this engineering feat is actually a loophole, they have confirmed no action will be taken against Mercedes’ engine this year, despite teams (rumoured to be Audi and Ferrari) fighting for clarification and solutions.
The rumour took another turn when reports surfaced that Mercedes engines had trouble starting once the car was underway. With the Mercedes shakedown test at Silverstone now complete without engine issues, this rumour can now be safely put to bed.
Ferrari faced similar rumours of struggles, but the customer team, Cadillac, confirmed during its shakedown at Silverstone a few weeks ago that the engine ran fine. Ferrari has since completed its own shakedown at Maranello.
Audi’s engine had its first outing with the team’s inaugural shakedown as they enter F1 for the first time this year after taking over Sauber.
Red Bull’s engine, made by their own powertrain in collaboration with Ford for the first time, has been named as a tribute to Red Bull’s late president, and had a successful first outing via the Racing Bull’s team shakedown, following their livery reveal.
Honda’s engine remains a mystery as they team up with Aston Martin this year, who are rumoured to be behind.
Glossy Paint is BACK!
Red Bull kicked off the livery reveals this season in Detroit, unveiling its and Racing Point’s new team look.
Red Bull has embraced this year’s nostalgia and returned to a brighter royal blue, rather than the dark navy blue used during the ‘22 regulations. The Red Bull logo has a white outline once more, reflecting the essence of Sebastian Vettel’s championship-winning cars from 2010 to 2014.
But best of all, the paint is glossy.
Due to weight regulations and the sheer weight of the 2022 generation of F1 cars, most of the grid had little paint and more carbon fibre, and the little paint they did have was rarely so shiny.
This year, the FIA directed that all cars should have more paint or color than their predecessors, to prevent them from merging into a single identity rather than 10 distinct ones.
Alpine has followed suit with glossy blue and pink on their car, colours that have appeared on the Alpine since their partnership with BWT began.
Ferrari also embraced nostalgia as they revealed their signature red in a beautiful gloss finish, along with white around the cockpit and halo, a nod to Niki Lauda’s 312 Ferrari F1 car.
To Push Or Pull?
Early design details from cars revealed so far (Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, Audi) strongly suggest a move back to push‑rod layouts on both front and rear. The SF‑26 from Ferrari, for instance, features double push‑rod suspension at both the front and rear.
Leaks and technical previews indicate the Red Bull RB22 is also opting for push‑rod at both ends. This marks a deliberate departure from their long‑standing front-pull-rod/rear-push-rod recipe of the hybrid era.
Mercedes’ reveal of the W17 shows they’ve stuck with push‑rod suspension across both ends — a choice accompanied by a complete rethink of chassis packaging around the new regs, according to TheRace.
Mercedes’ reveal of the W17 shows they’ve stuck with push‑rod suspension across both ends — a choice that’s accompanied by a complete rethink of chassis packaging around the new regs according to TheRace.
Integration with the new power units and the rear bodywork is easier with push‑rod geometry because it gives more freedom on packaging and suspension pickup points where you want them.
A unified push‑rod layout simplifies development under a completely new set of regulations. A big deal when teams are already fighting to understand the fresh aero and PU rules.
F1 teams appear less unified in the design of nose boxes: Racing Bulls have been seen with rather large nose boxes on their front wings, whereas Ferrari has a narrow nose box.
Ultimately, these designs will vary across teams and throughout the season as the development race gets underway. It is already highly impressive that the cars at Barcelona won’t be the same as those at Bahrain and even Australia.
Image Credit: Joe Gall / Red Bull Content Pool
