2026 Pre-Season Testing

[gearboxtrouble]

If mid 1:16s are assumed to be flat out by Mercedes today then I suspect the pole time this year will be around 3s faster on much warmer track temperatures, softer tires (C3 is unlikely to be the soft come race weekend) and car evolution. Thats ~2s slower than the 2025 cars in qualifying which is in the ballpark for what most people expected. Race pace would obviously be much slower on energy management.

Based on what precedent? The difference between pole and testing last time we were in Barcelona in 2022 and 2020 was negligible. The cold track helps if anything. Pole this year is going to be in the 1:15 range would be my guess.

They wont be 4s a lap slower. Track temps do matter when it is cool right now and the c3 will probably be the medium or even hard come race weekend. That plus the natural steep learning curve these teams will be on by then would suggest a decently faster ceiling around here by race weekend.

[Badger]

If mid 1:16s are assumed to be flat out by Mercedes today then I suspect the pole time this year will be around 3s faster on much warmer track temperatures, softer tires (C3 is unlikely to be the soft come race weekend) and car evolution. Thats ~2s slower than the 2025 cars in qualifying which is in the ballpark for what most people expected. Race pace would obviously be much slower on energy management.

Based on what precedent? The difference between pole and testing last time we were in Barcelona in 2022 and 2020 was negligible. The cold track helps if anything. Pole this year is going to be in the 1:15 range would be my guess.

They wont be 4s a lap slower. Track temps do matter when it is cool right now and the c3 will probably be the medium or even hard come race weekend. That plus the natural steep learning curve these teams will be on by then would suggest a decently faster ceiling around here by race weekend.

All those arguments could apply to 2022 as well. C3 is traditionally the soft in Spain.

[stephen]

386 laps for the Ferrari engine today. That's tell a story about the engine's reliability.

[FrukostScones]

when you forget to close your x to the z:

[f1316]

Total amount of laps done

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_7cJRpWoAA ... me=900x900

Cadillac kinda skewing the picture (since their lack of laps had nothing to do with the PU) and RB only two teams. So with those things in mind, if we’re looking at laps per manufacturer as an indicator of reliability, those three are pretty equal.

On a different note: one thing I find odd is the teams apparently being annoyed about the lack of secrecy and pictures getting out there. Aren’t the people you want to keep things secret from the other teams (all of whom are literally standing there watching your car every time it goes by)? Why care about whether people outside your rivals are getting info? Weird.

[langedweil]

Total amount of laps done

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G_7cJRpWoAA ... me=900x900

Cadillac kinda skewing the picture (since their lack of laps had nothing to do with the PU) and RB only two teams. So with those things in mind, if we’re looking at laps per manufacturer as an indicator of reliability, those three are pretty equal.

On a different note: one thing I find odd is the teams apparently being annoyed about the lack of secrecy and pictures getting out there. Aren’t the people you want to keep things secret from the other teams (all of whom are literally standing there watching your car every time it goes by)? Why care about whether people outside your rivals are getting info? Weird.

Yeah well, that follows the same route .. doesn't ?
It's a bit silly as teams themselves will shoot very high resolution material of all their competition, just to compare or watch for missed ideas.
Think the secrecy is mainly part of the Bahrein contracts, and the fact that possibly way more (serious) issues could have been visible because of the extremely new cars; something that might even somehow hurt global brands like Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda. The latter PU for instance so far doesn't scream power/efficiency/reliability at the moment, eventhough stuff like happens when you first seriously test things IRL. Honda will surely get on top of it as shown over the last few years, but still ...

[kptaylor]

The teams are pissed because the FIA made a big deal about it being a closed test to protect Bahrain, yet didn't properly enforce security so the teams see it as lost revenue, especially if they had no sponsor livery showing.

[carisi2k]

It would have been better if the FIA just gave the teams a 2 day shakedown of there own or 5 days of testing at both pre season tests instead of this shakedown.

[FittingMechanics]

What is the source of this idea that the teams are pissed off?

Not sure why they would be.

[edu2703]

Do we know if the teams are already using synthetic fuel in testing?

I saw a news item on AMuS that some suppliers had requested permission from the FIA ​​to use non-compliant fuel in pre-season testing. So perhaps there's a possibility that some engine manufacturers haven't yet tested their power unit on track with synthetic fuel.

[Wouter]

Do we know if the teams are already using synthetic fuel in testing?

I saw a news item on AMuS that some suppliers had requested permission from the FIA ​​to use non-compliant fuel in pre-season testing. So perhaps there's a possibility that some engine manufacturers haven't yet tested their power unit on track with synthetic fuel.

.
The teams are using synthetic fuel from the start of the Australian GP.

[AR3-GP]

I think Bahrain when the temperatures are higher will be a far better barometer as to how well the cars are working. The cars with better tire management will come to fore in those conditions whereas it wouldn't show as much in Barcelona. Those cars might have even been handicapped by the cooler conditions as we saw from Mclaren last year.

[Emag]

I think Bahrain when the temperatures are higher will be a far better barometer as to how well the cars are working. The cars with better tire management will come to fore in those conditions whereas it wouldn't show as much in Barcelona. Those cars might have even been handicapped by the cooler conditions as we saw from Mclaren last year.

This is true when you speak in terms of relative performance. McLaren just lost a bit of their edge on cooler conditions compared to others. But almost always for every F1 car, they will be faster at 10 degrees compared to 30 degrees (assuming track temp is high enough for tires to get to and stay within the optimum window).

[Jambier]

Do we know if the teams are already using synthetic fuel in testing?

I saw a news item on AMuS that some suppliers had requested permission from the FIA ​​to use non-compliant fuel in pre-season testing. So perhaps there's a possibility that some engine manufacturers haven't yet tested their power unit on track with synthetic fuel.

.
The teams are using synthetic fuel from the start of the Australian GP.

What would be the benefit not to use synthetic fuel since the start of testing ?

[FittingMechanics]

Do we know if the teams are already using synthetic fuel in testing?

I saw a news item on AMuS that some suppliers had requested permission from the FIA ​​to use non-compliant fuel in pre-season testing. So perhaps there's a possibility that some engine manufacturers haven't yet tested their power unit on track with synthetic fuel.

.
The teams are using synthetic fuel from the start of the Australian GP.

What would be the benefit not to use synthetic fuel since the start of testing ?

I'm of the opinion everyone (or at least most of the teams) used real 2026 fuel as it makes sense to do in testing, especially behind closed doors. All the rumors about the fuel seem to be just speculation because FIA allowed the teams options to not use 2026 fuels.

But, to steelman this argument, if the team is unsure of reliability of their engine and are worried it will cause their car to break down, by using non 2026 fuels they can check off everything else. For example they can check aero, integration, gearbox, test how these cars drive with the electrical energy, etc. You could theoretically leave the fuel check for a second or third test, especially if you are behind schedule.