2026 Pre-Season Testing

[Emag]

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the- ... long-runs/

Here are the 15 best long runs of the day by average laptime, with a long run being defined as having at least seven laps or more:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m37.663s, soft tyre for 7 laps
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m37.926s, S 10
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.072s, hard 9
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.371s, S 9*
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.587s, S 10*
6 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m38.637s, H 8
7 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.722s, S 9
8 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.880s, medium 10
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.903s, M 10
10 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m39.013s, S 9
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m39.399s, S 12*
12 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m39.765s, M 9
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m40.106s, S 21*
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi), 1m40.331s, M 12*
15 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m40.368s, S 7

*denotes runs where mid-run laptimes were discounted from the average due to being clear outliers.

Verstappen's long runs, as much as they can be at this stage of testing, were particularly impressive.
Across five stints on each of the available compounds (C3 soft, C2 medium, C1 hard), the Red Bull driver delivered
extremely consistent laptimes and his averages never required any adjustment for 'throwaway' laps,
because there were none.

Yep Max had the fastest “long runs” today. But to be fair, its hard to classify a 7-10 lap stint as a long run. Difficult to asses.

This first day honestly is way too volatile with teams being in “shakedown” mode still. Hopefully in days 2 and 3 we get some actual proper long runs (as in race sims)

[Luscion]

https://x.com/KemalSengulll/status/2021651516101406731

• McLaren left today's test session satisfied. Both drivers were pleased with the car.
  
  McLaren also completed the program it had planned. They will move on to the next phase tomorrow.

• Even though the Ferrari experienced balance issues, it closed the day on a positive note.
  
  The simulation data aligns with the on-track data. This is the most important thing.

• Mercedes isn't as happy as in Barcelona but isn't unhappy either. The drivers requested improvements to the car's balance.
  
  Today, the problem stemming from the suspension also negatively affected the team's program.
  
  They aim to make up for this loss by completing more laps over the next two days.

• Red Bull and Verstappen, on the other hand, are happy. They didn't encounter any problems today and completed the entire program.
  
  Overall, they have started better than expected.

• Finally, Aston Martin has fallen a bit behind in the program following today's loss.
  
  For the remaining two days, the goal is to minimize the loss and understand the car in the best possible way.
  
  After that, they plan to focus on performance.

[CjC]

Was the Racing Bull just as competitive as the Red Bull on the straights??

They were 1 and 2 in speed traps but 7 kph between them (almost 10 kph between Max and next non RB powered team): https://x.com/f1/status/2021620960982610109?s=46

May or may not mean anything. Ferrari are certainly saying they have work to do on the energy management side but that, to me, makes it sound like it’s an opportunity not a limitation. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some truth to RB doing this better on this day in history but I would be surprised if they have a major, baked in advantage in terms of electrical power recovery/deployment.

Thanks!
You are right about cherry picking the data. The fact that Verstappen is out there on his own- 7ks quicker than everyone doesn’t seem quite right to me.
More data is needed before we loose ourselves in a Red Bull advantage

[Emag]

The "long runs" from Lando, Charles and Max today.

[AR3-GP]

https://i.postimg.cc/hG89h7Yg/Analysis-V70a9i-Xq.jpg

The "long runs" from Lando, Charles and Max today.

Does the insights hub calculate gear ratios?

[Emag]

https://i.postimg.cc/hG89h7Yg/Analysis-V70a9i-Xq.jpg

The "long runs" from Lando, Charles and Max today.

Does the insights hub calculate gear ratios?

Not at the moment. I can try to estimate it but I am not sure if anything meaningful will pop out considering the low sample rate of the data.

[pantherxxx]

Toto’s most telling comment was that this isn't a glory run on a single lap:

"On a single lap we've seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment."

That's like a knockout imo. Everyone can have one fast lap. But to do it for 10 laps straight means your energy recovery is so efficient that you’re "refilling the tank" faster than you’re emptying it.

We will probably see bigger Verstappen domination than 2023. He's a beast with these cars anyways, more than ever will depend on the driver, and Max has thousand of hours in sim racing doing endurance racing, he knows how to manage energy perfectly, better than other drivers.

Best car + best driver.

[AR3-GP]

I still have Mclaren in front.

[bauc]

Toto’s most telling comment was that this isn't a glory run on a single lap:

"On a single lap we've seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment."

That's like a knockout imo. Everyone can have one fast lap. But to do it for 10 laps straight means your energy recovery is so efficient that you’re "refilling the tank" faster than you’re emptying it.

We will probably see bigger Verstappen domination than 2023. He's a beast with these cars anyways, more than ever will depend on the driver, and Max has thousand of hours in sim racing doing endurance racing, he knows how to manage energy perfectly, better than other drivers.

Best car + best driver.

You understand that this is typical Toto trying to deflect all the attention away from Mercedes engine drama right?

[TeamKoolGreen]

F1 takes away the speed graphic just as the car enters economy mode 3/4 down the straight

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2021626252197802223

Also from F1bigdata

If you look at the telemetry, you can see that on some laps the drivers are reaching maximum speed halfway down the straight, and from there on it decreases even with the throttle at 100%

[stephen]

Early days, but it already looks like Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes have picked up where they left off two months ago.

[F1NAC]

F1 takes away the speed graphic just as the car enters economy mode 3/4 down the straight

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2021626252197802223

Also from F1bigdata

If you look at the telemetry, you can see that on some laps the drivers are reaching maximum speed halfway down the straight, and from there on it decreases even with the throttle at 100%

some gears in some corners reminded me when they were driving NA v8's. lower gears than usual in turbo hybrid era

[chrisc90]

Wonder if this will sort the proper drivers out from the boys.

[upsidedowntoast]

Toto’s most telling comment was that this isn't a glory run on a single lap:

"On a single lap we've seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment."

That's like a knockout imo. Everyone can have one fast lap. But to do it for 10 laps straight means your energy recovery is so efficient that you’re "refilling the tank" faster than you’re emptying it.

We will probably see bigger Verstappen domination than 2023. He's a beast with these cars anyways, more than ever will depend on the driver, and Max has thousand of hours in sim racing doing endurance racing, he knows how to manage energy perfectly, better than other drivers.

Best car + best driver.

You understand that this is typical Toto trying to deflect all the attention away from Mercedes engine drama right?

Honestly considering that Merc is still having trouble with hot weather and suspension 4-5 years on, while McLaren with the same engine is doing ok...maybe all the engine drama is completely pointless and they are terrible again. See you next reg cycle guys

Also even if he is deflecting it doesn't mean the observation about possibly superior recovery/deployment by RB isn't true.

[basti313]

Honestly considering that Merc is still having trouble with hot weather and suspension 4-5 years on....

Or they went to the storrage and got their sandbags out again?