2026 Pre-Season Testing

[f1316]

Do we really have any idea of pecking order from the data? Safe to suggest the top 4 teams but is the data clear enough at all yet? Too many unknowns?

I think it's going to be between Mercedes and Ferrari at Melbourne.

I think Mercedes is a couple tenths ahead right now.

Ted Kravitz said Charles’ race sim was 28 seconds faster than George’s - totally different time of day and there’s lots of possibilities mixed in there but just as an indicator. Hopefully we’ll get a more representative comparison between Lewis and Kimi.

[FrukostScones]

Lewis stopped. Likely some planned situation, given the timing.

He stopped on track so it's hardly planned. But it's interesting that the commentators suggested he might have run out of fuel.

think of fuel systems data validation

[Seanspeed]

Lewis stopped. Likely some planned situation, given the timing.

He stopped on track so it's hardly planned. But it's interesting that the commentators suggested he might have run out of fuel.

Running tanks to empty is fairly common thing to do at the end of a test day.

[gearboxtrouble]

I think it's going to be between Mercedes and Ferrari at Melbourne.

I think Mercedes is a couple tenths ahead right now.

A bit premature. There is nothing that supports this, also looking at Piastri's and Leclerc's stints. There is just no way we can already tell which of the top teams looks fastest.

Indeed. I think Max’s day 1 race sim is still the fastest over this test. Imho it’s very close between the top 4. Gun to head I think Mclaren have a small advantage and they haven’t shown their hand yet. They’ve restricted running to race sims and harder compounds while racking up a massive amount of laps.

[Seanspeed]

I think it's going to be between Mercedes and Ferrari at Melbourne.

I think Mercedes is a couple tenths ahead right now.

A bit premature. There is nothing that supports this, also looking at Piastri's and Leclerc's stints. There is just no way we can already tell which of the top teams looks fastest.

Kimi's first stint was ever slightly faster than Lewis' first stint, with comparable stint length.

I haven't seen all the data for the rest of Kimi's race sim, at least not lined up with Lewis properly.

This probably isn't enough to say anybody is clearly ahead, but it would be something to at least suggest it's possible.

[SB15]

I think Mercedes is a couple tenths ahead right now.

A bit premature. There is nothing that supports this, also looking at Piastri's and Leclerc's stints. There is just no way we can already tell which of the top teams looks fastest.

Indeed. I think Max’s day 1 race sim is still the fastest over this test. Imho it’s very close between the top 4. Gun to head I think Mclaren have a small advantage and they haven’t shown their hand yet. They’ve restricted running to race sims and harder compounds while racking up a massive amount of laps.

Sure, but after look at the long runs. The Mclaren's are Merc's are the top 2 teams for me.

[Emag]

Lewis stopped. Likely some planned situation, given the timing.

He stopped on track so it's hardly planned. But it's interesting that the commentators suggested he might have run out of fuel.

Running tanks to empty is fairly common thing to do at the end of a test day.

They'll confirm I guess, but it seems to me like they would have been able to predict when it was going to run out completely and timed it so he was closer to the pits if that were the case.

[SoulPancake13]

He stopped on track so it's hardly planned. But it's interesting that the commentators suggested he might have run out of fuel.

Running tanks to empty is fairly common thing to do at the end of a test day.

They'll confirm I guess, but it seems to me like they would have been able to predict when it was going to run out completely and timed it so he was closer to the pits if that were the case.

Fred has confirmed this on French TV.

[Seanspeed]

I think Mercedes is a couple tenths ahead right now.

A bit premature. There is nothing that supports this, also looking at Piastri's and Leclerc's stints. There is just no way we can already tell which of the top teams looks fastest.

Indeed. I think Max’s day 1 race sim is still the fastest over this test. Imho it’s very close between the top 4. Gun to head I think Mclaren have a small advantage and they haven’t shown their hand yet. They’ve restricted running to race sims and harder compounds while racking up a massive amount of laps.

I dont think we have any indication Max did a race sim on Day 1. If he did, do you have the full times and compounds used?

[Seanspeed]

He stopped on track so it's hardly planned. But it's interesting that the commentators suggested he might have run out of fuel.

Running tanks to empty is fairly common thing to do at the end of a test day.

They'll confirm I guess, but it seems to me like they would have been able to predict when it was going to run out completely and timed it so he was closer to the pits if that were the case.

Well that's the point - they want to be able predict these things better. lol That way they can be more careful about how much fuel they put in.

[gearboxtrouble]

A bit premature. There is nothing that supports this, also looking at Piastri's and Leclerc's stints. There is just no way we can already tell which of the top teams looks fastest.

Indeed. I think Max’s day 1 race sim is still the fastest over this test. Imho it’s very close between the top 4. Gun to head I think Mclaren have a small advantage and they haven’t shown their hand yet. They’ve restricted running to race sims and harder compounds while racking up a massive amount of laps.

I dont think we have any indication Max did a race sim on Day 1. If he did, do you have the full times and compounds used?

The race had a look at that and it almost certainly looked like a race sim. 3 compounds with constantly declining lap times.

[nitrotech]

Some more race sims from today.



Aborted race sim from Kimi

[Badger]

I don't think Lando, Max and Charles did confirmed race stints did they?

[organic]

I don't think Lando, Max and Charles did confirmed race stints did they?

Charles did a race simulation I believe but LT was down for much of it. Max and lando I'm not sure about - don't believe they did

[f1isgood]

With energy recovery via braking, different drivers might create different perceptions of the car potential. Moreover you can now play with both ICE modes and energy deployment to a much bigger extent. IMO clearly McLaren haven't shown their hand. Likewise neither have the others. I think the race simulations will be good for understanding tire degradation but lap time differences themselves shouldn't matter.