This Test – Catalan (30/01/2026)
This Test – Catalan (30/01/2026)
Hello, welcome to our first wrap-up of track action for 2026. This week, Lando Norris speaks about the ‘surreal’ movement of running ‘1’ for the first time, Mercedes live up to the hype, Arvid Lindblad is still adapting, with praise from technical staff for his professionalism.
But for me the main headline is reliability, from the existing engine manufacturers Mercedes and Ferrari. Red Bull-Ford and Audi have a few teething issues but maybe they can resolve them, Honda bit unknown, given the lack of running.
Just a reminder, much of the information we have got about testing this week has come from the teams; we haven’t had streaming, and none of our regular sources have access to the circuit. We will do our best to paint a picture of what has happened
General News
The English charity regulator, The Charity Commission, has launched an official inquiry into the FIA Foundation. The move comes after Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of motorsport’s governing body the FIA, replaced David Richards – the head of Motorsport UK – as chair of the foundation last year.
The Charity Commission, which regulates all charities in England and Wales, has issued a temporary protective order, preventing the FIA Foundation and its trustees “from entering into certain transactions without the prior written approval of the Commission”.
Under UK law, a charity must operate independently and solely to further its charitable purposes, and not be controlled by external organisations or interests. The 2011 Charity Act says trustees must be free from undue influence of conflicts of interest from outside parties. At least nine of the 12 trustees of the FIA Foundation have senior roles elsewhere within the FIA.
The Charity Commission said its inquiry would examine the relationship between the FIA Foundation and the FIA, “and whether any conflicts of interest have been appropriately identified and managed, with specific reference to grants awarded by the charity”. It will also investigate “whether any of the charity’s property has been or is at risk and to take action to protect such property”.
An FIA Foundation spokesperson said: “The Charity Commission has contacted the FIA Foundation, raising regulatory issues. The Commission has informed the Foundation that this regulatory engagement is not a finding of wrongdoing.”
“The trustees of the Foundation are confident that its affairs have been properly conducted, and they intend to co-operate fully with the Commission to achieve a speedy resolution of the Commission’s concerns.”
F1 held its promoter awards in London this week, celebrating the outstanding contributions to Formula 1 in areas including sustainability, fan experience, event spectacle, and cultural identity. The top prize went to Abu Dhabi, for ‘work to consistently elevate the Grand Prix and cement its position as a must-visit global sporting destination.’
This year, Ethara, the promoter of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, welcomed new hospitality concepts, innovative on-site activations, sustainability initiatives and entertainment from international music artists as the Yas Marina Circuit hosted a historic three-way title decider – with a record crowd of 339,000 fans attending across the weekend.
Jeddah won the event spectacular award for its pre- and post-race ceremonial spectacle, off-track event spectacle and other activations across a race weekend.
Recap
Day one, saw George Russell fastest with an 18.696, which put him just under two tenths faster than Isack Hadjar. Other reports have put Hadjar ahead of Russell, who drove the afternoon session. Seven of the eleven teams ran on day one; teams are restricted to three days of running over the five days. New teams Audi and Cadillac, who become the sport’s eleventh team this year, were also on track.
Day two was a all Red Bull and Ferrari affair with wet conditions. Max Verstappen went off at Turn Five, the four-time world champion clocked twenty-seven laps in the RB22 before handing over to new Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar, who also brought out a red flag when he crashed at Catalunya (Turn Eleven) in the final hour on his fifty-first lap. Verstappen and Leclerc ran early dry tyres before the wet weather moved in halfway through the morning session, giving them the opportunity to run on wet tyres.
Day three, Kimi Antonelli was reportedly the fastest with a 17.362, which is the fastest time of testing so far. Antonelli was three-quarters of a second faster than his Mercedes teammate George Russell, as the new Mercedes proved reliable once again. Lando Norris was third as he completed around a race distance, going third, according to SoyMotor, with ESPN putting him a tenth and a half off Isack Hadjar.
Day four, Russell was reportedly the fastest, setting the fastest time of the test so far, a 16.445, more than half a second clear of his teammate, and almost two seconds ahead of any other car. According to ESPN, Norris was just under two seconds off Russell, with the McLaren a tenth and a half ahead of Arvid Lindblad.
On day five, Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a reported 16.348. Hamilton set the fastest time of the test as he went a tenth quicker than George Russell’s fastest time, and that came in the final hour, moving him ahead of Lando Norris by a quarter of a tenth and Max Verstappen. Others to have run on Friday include Haas, Audi, Cadillac and Aston Martin, the latter of which only contested the final two days of this week’s shakedown.
McLaren
Lando Norris says seeing number one on his car on his first day of testing was “surreal;”; the world champion began his testing on Wednesday. Where he completed seventy-seven laps and was third, according to sources.
Under F1’s regulations, the reigning champion has the option to switch their career number to the No.1 in the year after their title success. Norris, who had previously run with the No.4 during his career, said he was still coming to terms with the symbolic number being associated with his name.
He said, “I saw it actually early on the timing screen and it’s still, I still find it, you know, just unbelievable. Like it’s still a crazy thing to see, especially when you see it now. It’s really the first time I get to see it on my suit, on the car, on timing screens, all of these things, you know, and it looks good.”
“So still, yeah, still a surreal feeling, the whole situation of being champion, but it doesn’t change anything apart from I’m at the top of the timing screens before we’ve even gone out because I’m the lowest number now. Pressure’s on, but at the same time, you know, it’s just, it’s cool. It’s great for the mechanics”
Norris still says its hard work they have to put in, but it was nice knowing they have the number one.
The introduction of new regulations in F1 for 2026 means preseason testing has started a month earlier than usual, resulting in one of the shortest breaks between seasons in recent years. Norris said he would have welcomed more time to celebrate last year’s success, but was still eager to get the new season underway.
He added “I mean, I’m excited for everything, of course. Do I wish I had one more month to lay back and enjoy everything, take everything in? You know, it was a few weeks off. It didn’t even feel like a month off.
“It was a few weeks off of just trying to realise what has happened last year and it had become a reality, my dream. So I think I’m still even now trying to just accept it and realise that it’s happened.”
Speaking about the new car, he said “I think it’s just, it’s a bit of a step slower in terms of cornering speeds. In terms of like acceleration and straight line speed, it probably feels quicker than it did last year. You know, you get to 340 km/h, 350 km/h quite a bit quicker than we did in previous years.”
“Bit more of a challenge in many places, which is a good thing. But then you have a bit more to understand from the battery, the power unit, all of those things are in some ways more complicated and just different. And whenever something’s different, it always takes a bit of time to figure out the best way to look at it, to manage it, to use it.”
McLaren say their rivals have “set a very high bar for performance” during the pre-season test. Other than the technical problem that cut-short Piastri’s programme, McLaren are happy with the running they have conducted.
performance technical director Mark Temple said, “We’ve got a good understanding of where the car is from a baseline point of view. In this shakedown, the most important aspect for drivers is that they understand how the new car operates, how the power unit interacts, and the process of energy management.”
“Overall, we haven’t encountered anything too unexpected. The behaviour and handling of the car is in line with what we thought, so nothing is catching the drivers out. It’s just about learning and getting to know it, and then as we get more time, we’ll look to try and tweak or tune the car.”
Mercedes
Mercedes as usual made a strong start along with several teams on the opening day which was a surprise I believe to everyone given the scale of these changes, George Russell admitting he was “pretty impressed” by several teams on the opening day of the Barcelona Shakedown, with the Mercedes driver hailing Monday as an “exciting day”.
On the opening day, Russell shared the running with teammate Kimi Antonelli, after which he Russell conceded that it was a good feeling to be in his new challenger. He saifd, “It’s amazing just to be back out driving again. I think at the end of the year everyone’s looking forward to a break, but then after a week or two you’re raring to go again.”
“There was obviously a lot of anticipation for these new power units, and so far, just generally on the whole, the amount of power they give is pretty impressive. I think for all the cars I was watching today, with all the different power units, it’s probably the quickest I’ve ever seen an F1 car pass here in Barcelona, so that was pretty exciting to see.
“The cars, you feel it being smaller, you can feel that weight reduction compared to previous years, so I think from that aspect as well it’s gone in a good direction.”
Russell also said these new cars feel “very different” amid this year’s new technical regulations, but also said: “Once you wrap your head around it, it then feels quite intuitive.”
Red Bull
Red Bull began the test by unveiling its 2026 car, the RB22. When the team launched there this season in Detroit two weeks ago where it launched its partnership with Ford, it didn’t reveal its physical car.
On Monday, Red Bull revealed the first pictures of its new challenger shortly before the lights went green in the pitlane. It will be driven by four-time world champion Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, whose strong rookie campaign at Racing Bulls earned him graduation to the brand’s main team.
Following the first day of running, Isack Hadjar admitted his surprise at Red Bull’s “productive” and “smooth” performance after topping the timesheet on the opening day.
Isack Hadjar admitted his surprise at Red Bull’s “productive” and “smooth” performance after topping the timesheet on the opening day. I think this was a good start, given they have an additional chance as they are now in partnership with Ford building their own power unit. Reports suggest he was just over half a second clear of Mercedes’ George Russell.
Sister team Racing Bulls also managed a decent amount of running, with Liam Lawson completing eighty-eight laps. Hadjar said, “It was pretty productive, surprisingly. We managed to do a lot more laps than we expected. Everything went pretty smoothly. We had like only minor issues, so it’s quite impressive considering it’s our first day with our own engine. It was definitely smooth.”
Asked specifically about the performance of the power unit, Hadjar added, “Honestly, it’s pretty decent for our first day. It doesn’t feel too far off what I’m used to, at least in my first season, on all of the upshifts, downshifts. That was ok. There are still a few things to tweak around, but it’s solid.”
Team principal Laurent Mekies says it was a “very special moment” for Red Bull to run with their own power unit for the first time during the Barcelona Shakedown, adding that he is “proud” of the team for the work that has gone into the project.
He said, “We knew it would be a very special moment to be here for the first time with the RB22 with our own power unit, so it came with that special atmosphere and tensions. The last few months and weeks have been incredibly hectic to be ready, but ultimately we were ready on Monday morning to run.”
“I can only take the opportunity to say a big thank you and well done to everybody back in Milton Keynes, chassis-side, power unit-side, because it was incredible to see the car going out at a few minutes past nine on Monday morning with our own power unit.” But Mekies accepted they still had work to do.
In terms of the running on Day 2, where Hadjar experienced a crash in the damp conditions, Mekies continued: “Today the weather was a bit more difficult, and Max drove in the morning. We only got one run of dry running before the rain came. It’s part of the game, we felt, anyway, that it was interesting to run in the rain, also with these regulations.
“Obviously, everything is new, and we knew we would have a lot of work to do. That’s what we’ve done, and then switching to Isack in the afternoon, again no chance for dry tyres but some good learning on the wet and in the right way. But what is important is that Isack is okay, and we will try our best to repair the car and to see what’s coming next.”
Verstappen ended the test by stating “there’s still quite a bit of work to do” on the team’s power unit. The four-time champion didn’t manage a proper running until Friday because Hadjar ran on Monday and mixed conditions during his half day on Tuesday.
He told F1.com, “Still work in progress, but I think we’ve hit the ground running quite well with those things. It’s still a very complicated formula for everyone; there’s still quite a bit of work to do, but that’s normal.”
Ferrari
On Monday, Charles Leclerc shared his thoughts on the 2026 car following the shakedown test last Friday. The Monacan was encouraged by the fact that there were no major issues, but added that it was too early to say definitively, especially as the conditions were not ideal at the Fiorano circuit.
Following the unveiling of the SF-26, both Leclerc and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton took to the track for a shakedown. Leclerc told F1.com, “I’m definitely looking forward to this day every year. However, it’s the kind of day where the main target is to check that everything is working properly and that there are no big problems, which was the case today, so that is a positive.”
“But in terms of performance, in terms of feeling, it’s too early to say. The conditions weren’t that great either. There’s a lot of fog, a little bit of a wet track as well, so it’s not the best conditions to test a car for the first time.” He, as you would expect he was cautious as the running was mainly focused on system checks.
Following the team’s first day of running, Lewis Hamilton says the conditions made it “very challenging” due to the rain but featured “no major issues”. The second day of testing saw Ferrari and Red Bull run alone because of the mixed conditions. But the unofficial information suggests they completed over two race distances.
Hamilton said, “Very challenging today, obviously, because it started raining at 10:30, so obviously Charles had a little bit of dry running, but then it’s been wet all afternoon, so figuring out how to get the tyres working. It was really productive, I think we got about 120 laps or something like that; given it’s in the wet conditions, and we had a red flag and that, I think that’s pretty solid.”
“It could be so much worse on such a big regulation change. So to get through the day without too many major issues, there were no major issues; it’s just small little increments that we’re trying to improve on. I think it’s great, and as I said, we just need to try and get some more days like this.”
The seven-time world champion was unable to fully get to grips with his SF-26’s new aerodynamic and engine tools on Tuesday due to the rain, but he was still enthused by the new machinery. I think though, this is very early stages is encouraging with reliability and to me sound good, but we will only get real answers in Melbourne.
As the week progressed, Hamilton said that the team had made a better start to testing than last year. It appears that the team are not suffering any major reliability issues, as was the case when Hamilton’s running at last year’s single pre-season test in Bahrain was significantly curtailed by a technical problem.
On Thursday, he said, “When you come to the test, you always want to get a lot of mileage. Today, I did 85 laps in the morning, which is amazing. That’s really down to all the people in the factory who have done such a great job to make sure that the car, so far, is really reliable.”
“Last year, we had a worse start to testing. So, considering this is a completely new band of rules, it’s better than we’ve experienced in the past, so I’m really hopeful that it continues.”
While Ferrari has exhibited good reliability thus far, there appears to be strong competition going into the new season with teams they have fought at the front of the grid in recent years also making smooth starts.
Fred Vasseur said on Friday the teams millage was an “important milestone.” Ferrari pipped Mercedes in Thursday’s lap charts as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed a total of 170 laps, the most single-day mileage for a team which may be overshadowed by the headlines about Mercedes.
He said, “It was an interesting first day with slicks for us. We had day one in wet conditions, and [Thursday] was a very good session with something like 180 laps on the board, and this is important for the team, for their ability to accumulate mileage, to learn about the car. It’s a huge challenge for everybody, and the more mileage you are doing, the more you are learning, and this is good.”
“But still a lot to do, it’s still a long way, a long way before Melbourne and the season, but I think it was a first step, today was a very good one. It’s an important milestone to be able to run, to put mileage in. I think we can do more, but at one stage you have to stop to refuel!”
Of course, in Bahrain we will get a proper read of performance, but this has been a very encouraging for Ferrari.
Williams
Williams were the only team to miss this week’s private testing due to delays with its 2026 car, the FW48.
The team last week said, “Atlassian Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week’s shakedown test at Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance.”
“The team will instead conduct a series of tests including a VTT programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.”
Alex Albon added on his Instagram, “It’s not how we wanted to start the year, but these things can happen when you are pushing the limits! Full focus ahead!”
On Wednesday team principal James Vowles says it is “incredibly painful” for the team to miss out on the Barcelona shakedown this week, and has denied rumours the team’s car will be significantly overweight.
Vowles owned up to the team biting off more than it could chew in its production process. He also confirmed the team passed the required crash tests and will run in Bahrain, and denied that the issues will result in a significant weight penalty.
Saying “The car this year that we’ve built is about three times more complicated than anything we have put through our business beforehand. It means the amount of load going through our system is about three times what it used to be. And we started falling a little bit behind and late on parts.”
“In addition to that, we have absolutely pushed the boundaries of what we’re doing in certain areas, and one of those is in certain corresponding tests that go with it. But those were only a blip in the grand scheme of things.”
ON the rumours about the car being overweight, Vowels said they would not know the weight of the car until the third test in Sakhir what the weight was. But suggested they were within the margin of error.
Vowles clarified that Williams could have made the Barcelona test after all, but that would have presented the team with a spare parts risk for the early part of the season that he wasn’t comfortable taking.
Racing Bulls
Despite praise from the team this week during the test, Arvid Lindblad admits he’s unsure if he is “entirely ready” to contest his rookie season. The British Swedish driver took to the track for the first time but his running was cut short because of a technical issue on day three.
Regardless, a lot is being asked of Lindblad, considering his age and how he was fast-tracked through the junior categories by Red Bull, having joined its junior programme in 2021. Asked by F1 TV how prepared he feels for 2026, Lindblad, who arrives off the back of finishing sixth in F2 last year, said: “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve got a lot to learn. If I’m entirely ready, I don’t know.”
“It’s not really something I think about. I’m more thinking about how can I try to get more ready. What’s the things that can help me learn to be in as best position as possible when we get to Melbourne. So, I’m just focused on working hard with the team on the sim here at the track with the engineers, just trying to learn as much as I can, be a bit of a sponge on that side. And yeah, then we’ll see.”
Lindblad doesn’t have anything to compare to as he goes into his first season with huge changes to the regulations. But technical officer Tim Goss was full of praise for his driver.
Goss said, “He’s really calm, really professional – feedback is really, really straightforward. For someone so young, it’s really, really impressive, and his session in the car has really just been about getting to grips with this breed of car.”
The new season will also see Racing Bulls, and sister squad Red Bull, compete with an in-house power unit for the first time. It had been expected that they would struggle to begin with, considering the strong engines that belong to the likes of Mercedes. Many have been impressed with the reliability of the power unit this week.
Goss is one of them, saying: “It’s been a really, really impressive job by Red Bull-Ford Powertrains. To come as a complete newcomer to Formula 1 and on your very first day, then to put nearly 200 laps under your belt, it’s easy to take this level of reliability for granted, but it can’t be underestimated what they’ve achieved.
“The driveability is fantastic. The difficulty that ourselves and probably all the other teams are coming to grips with is just how the energy management changes a little bit from lap to lap, from corner to corner, and just trying to understand how best to tune all of that and for the drivers just to get used to it, really.”
Aston Martin
Aston Martin missed the opening two days of the test, with the team the only one ahead of the start of the shakedown not to announce what their running days were going to be. Motorsport.com can reveal that it will not be seen in Barcelona until Wednesday at the earliest, with Thursday being a genuine possibility.
That is despite the Silverstone outfit’s hospitality and support structures being present at the track, but it is understood that Aston’s situation is similar to that of Williams with delays in development.
The 2026 regulations are proving a huge challenge for all teams with changes across the whole car. There is also the added complication at Aston Martin that it is partnering with a new power unit supplier this year, as it is becoming a Honda works’ outfit rather than its previous guise as a Mercedes customer team.
When they did get out on track on Thursday, there running lasted less than a hour. They headed out with an hour on the clock, but Lance Stroll stopped the car at the end of the pit lane. Chief trackside officer Mike Krack said, “We are in a bit of a unique situation. We welcome Honda, our new power unit partner. We have made our first gearbox in very many, many years, and you pair that with new chassis regulations, new power unit regulations…”
“Basically, you could say it’s the worst case or the best case, but it’s a huge change for us as a team, to be a works team, a factory team, together with these regulations. Then we have Adrian [Newey] on board, so it’s all very exciting and a lot of change.”
Spanish media reported that Stroll’s best time was a 46.404, thirty seconds off the best time and he only managed five laps.
Audi
Audi announced that Freddie Slater the first member of their newly launched driver development programme. Slater will make his F3 debut in Melbourne after strong performances in junior formula and karting.
Slater won various titles in karting before following up with UAE and Italian F4 titles, and then most recently winning the Formula Regional European Championship.
Slater said: “It’s an incredible honour t o be the first driver selected for the Audi Driver Development Programme. Having the backing of Audi Revolut F1 Team is a massive opportunity. I am fully focused on working hard and making the most of this pivotal step towards my goal of reaching Formula 1.”
Head of driver development and broadcaster, Allen McNish, said: “In Freddie, we see the immense potential of a future star. His track record is remarkable, but more importantly, he possesses the focus, determination, and willingness to learn that are essential for reaching the pinnacle of our sport.”
Gabriel Bortoletto says he isn’t changing his approach to his preparations as he goes into his second season. The Brazilian who finished nineteenth last season is eager to take the same approach in his second season.
He said last week, “To be honest, the same way I approached my rookie season. The approach of being professional and working hard is always the same, and I feel like I never really took the rookie title as a thing in F3 or F2 or F1, it’s just another new season.”
Adding “Oh, a lot. How many days is difficult to say. At home, I was doing sim every day. If I could, I wouldn’t even have a winter break. It was nice to spend a bit of time with family, but I feel like after five days, I was already feeling a bit useless. I was away from the factory and the team, I was like, ‘I want to go back.’”
The team also had more difficulties on the second day of running when Nico Hulkenberg stopped on track with a hydraulic issue. Gabriel Bortoleto caused a red flag when his R26 stopped on track in the morning session, but before that, he said they were doing a decent job in the morning and putting some laps on board.”
“But as we all expect, this is a shakedown, and everything can happen, and we expect to find issues here and there in the car. And we found a couple of problems that unfortunately put us out of the day, basically, from the morning already. So I didn’t run really much today.”
It went onto say on say, “Had we run faultlessly from the outset, that would have been a very pleasant surprise.” On Monday, its running was limited to twenty-seven laps before its running was halted. On Wednesday morning, its running was briefly halted again before it completed a race distance in the afternoon.
The week has been a baptism of fire for the German manufacturer after it took over Audi this season. technical director James Key said, “This test is a prove-out test of a very new car for everyone, of course, but particularly for us with a very new power unit as well, the first Audi power unit, so this is all about reliability and getting the fundamentals figured out.”
“So I think on that basis, although we had a little bit of delay, or quite a bit of delay in the end actually, on the first day for various reasons which are all fixable – but this is why we test, we don’t want to be discovering this in Melbourne – today has shown some better progress.”
“So, a little delay this morning, it was a hydraulic leak – real basic thing – but then this afternoon we’ve got back on track and we’ve done a lot of laps, so a step forward today I think.”
I’m not really surprised that Audi is having these problems as they don’t have the knowledge of how to build and run a power unit, as we are seeing with them, they look to resolve these issues.
Asked if there had been any surprises so far, Key replied: “Nothing unexpected, actually. You know, I think had we run faultlessly from the outset, that would have been a very pleasant surprise.”
“We’ve seen plenty of red flags; it’s a very, very immature car still at the moment for everyone, but nothing particularly surprising. Like I say, this is really a mechanical test, the performance will become the priority later, but nothing surprising other than just working through everything we have to do.”
Alpine
Pierre Gasly has responded to the backlash he received after a recent Instagram post from his skiing holiday over the Christmas break. The French driver shared a photo of himself sporting a red Marlboro ski suit, an outfit similar to one worn by F1 icon Michael Schumacher, posted on the seven-time champion’s birthday. Some fans branded the post as tasteless.
Schumacher hasn’t been seen in public since suffering serious head injuries after a skiing accident in 2013. There has been little public information about his condition, with his family asking for privacy. During a privacy and blackmail case last year it was said he couldn’t walk, while over the weekend, unconfirmed reports emerged that he could now sit up in a wheelchair.
Gasly said, “I’m a big fan of Michael. I’ve always shown respect to him. I think I’ve always shared the fact that he was one of my idols growing up. It was one of his jackets. I love skiing. I’ve always gone since I was a child. I think it really takes your mind away.
As I said, I had two weeks. I had one week with my family over Christmas, one week with my friends, which is much needed in my life, just to go away from the environment that we are in usually and just go back to a more traditional life with your friends. I really enjoy this part of things. It was good.”
Former Red Bull CEO and team principal Christian Horner is in talks with a consortium interested in buying a minority stake in Alpine. Horner was sacked by Red Bull last year after two decades at the helm but will be free to return to the sport in 2026.
Alpine’s de facto team principal, Flavio Briatore, said Horner was one of the interested parties eager to purchase Otro Capital’s 24 per cent stake ,and now the team have confirmed as such. The team is three quarters owned by parent company Renault, which explained that any investment approaches of investment are with the existing shareholders, not directly with Briatore or the team.
Briatore had told reporters at a media briefing after the team’s livery for 2026 was revealed: “Otro wants to sell the participation in Alpine. It’s a few groups interested. For the moment, this is the situation. I’ve known Christian for many years, I talk with Christian anyway, but this has nothing to do with me.
“First, you need to buy Otro, and after Renault needs to accept the buyer, and after we see what happens. But it has no link with me because he is negotiating with Otro, not negotiating with us.”
Joining the Oxfordshire-based team would allow Horner to work close to his home in the county.
Cadillac
Team principal Graeme Lowdon says the needle between his team and Red Bull partner Ford “adds another layer of interest” to the series. The US manufacturer makes its debut in Melbourne, initially joining as a Ferrari customer outfit while working on its in-house power units in the US.
Meanwhile, Ford is returning to the series as a power unit partner of Red Bull, which is producing its own engines in Milton Keynes with assistance from the Blue Oval. The arrival of GM and Ford brings a long-running rivalry onto a global stage. h Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss, dismissing Ford’s contribution to Red Bull as “a marketing deal with very minimal impact,” claims that Ford executive chairman Bill Ford labelled it as “patently absurd”.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, asked if the needle between the two US giants was good for the sport, he replied: “There’s been a healthy rivalry between GM and Ford for years and years. They’ve even made a Hollywood movie about it. So, it’s real, and it’s there. We’re taking a very different approach.”
“GM has ownership in our team, so that’s quite a different approach, as far as I know, to how Ford is approaching it. But we have GM DNA throughout the team because they’re part owners. I’m sure that rivalry will continue.”
“We’ve seen many times in Formula 1, the fans actually like to see some rivalry, as long as it doesn’t go too far, obviously. So, I think it’s just another layer of interest in Formula 1.” That rivalry will be leaned into when they officially unveil their livery at the Super Bowl next week.
The team also launched a multi-day activation in Times Square, New York, to build up to the American outfit’s 2026 livery unveiling on 8 February. The team are planning to reveal its livery during next Sunday’s Super Bowl, a replica Cadillac F1 car will be placed in a chrome-clad structure in the iconic Times Square from 6 to 9 February.
The structure will have a frosted glass exterior, showing silhouettes of what is inside. It will be wrapped in the team’s branding and will feature a digital countdown clock to the livery reveal. During the Super Bowl weekend, the countdown box will show different content before the frosted glass ‘thaws’ to reveal the 2026 livery.
Towriss said, “The unveiling of a livery in Formula 1 is an important moment as it is a reflection of the team’s identity. The reveal at the Super Bowl and in Times Square represents both a launch moment and an invitation for fans to join in our journey. The Super Bowl spot will take the team into millions of homes, while the Cadillac Countdown will give a front-row view in one of the busiest areas in the US.”
What we learned
It’s important to remember this weeks while naturally we gravitate towards lap times, they will not be important or relevant until the last day in Sakhir, then qualifying in Melbourne, where the true picture will become clear. This week has as we said at the start of this, has been hard for us to tell the story as independent media weren’t given access, then misinformation caught us out.
The reliability has been better than we and the teams expected, if the numbers we have seen are correct by number of laps, given that we have had such a huge regulation change. But we are working off limited information from the teams who have been able to control the narrative. But I think when we get to Bahrain, the first week will be about resolving any problems they found this week and chasing performance before Melbourne.
The thing I think we need to take note of is Mercedes, both as a team and the power train. They look to have built a car and power unit, which has based on the information we have and rumours, they may have an advantage but that doesn’t mean the works team are going to have the advantage, as we know McLaren dominated the last eighteen months.
McLaren, I think, could again be still in the leading pack, but to take advantage of the Mercedes power unit, to do three constructors in a row would be a huge achievement given these regulation changes. But one of the things to watch is how the wind tunnel handicap works as Red Bull struggled to stay ahead about midseason in 2024, I think that could be a thing to watch.
I think that the new power units, Red Bull/Ford and Audi, appear to be on the back foot when it comes to learning about these engines. Red Bull was aware that becoming their own power unit supplier would carry its own challenges, even if it partnered with an existing supplier, as Aston Martin didn’t get on track until Thursday. This could be a bad sign, as we know engines need to be locked in from FP1 in Melbourne.
As ever this is only the first pieces of the jigsaw we are working with, you need to assume that no team has given it everything and we are expecting upgrades in Bahrain and/or Melbourne until they need to go into qualifying and the race to see the full picture.