Here are the latest major Formula 1 headlines, as the final week before Bahrain testing comes to a close.<\/p>\n
By Wednesday, teams will hit the track for the official start of pre-season testing, but before then, Adrian Newey\u2019s \u201cextreme\u201d suspension choice on the Aston Martin AMR26 has been under the James Vowles microscope. Mercedes, meanwhile, could unleash some of the three to four seconds which they are alleged to be holding back in the W17. Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n
Adrian Newey \u2018extreme\u2019 suspension innovation analysed<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Understandably, there was a huge buzz around the Aston Martin AMR26 which hit the track in Barcelona. The team\u2019s first challenger designed under F1 icon Adrian Newey, unique solutions were expected, and that is exactly what we got.<\/p>\n The AMR26\u2019s wishbone arrangement caught the eye of Williams team principal James Vowles, who \u201cwouldn\u2019t want to be the designer for that one.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more \u2013 \u2018Very extreme\u2019 \u2013 Adrian Newey\u2019s AMR26 suspension catches eye of rival F1 team boss<\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes hiding three to four seconds of W17 performance?<\/p>\n That is the claim of seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya, anyway.<\/p>\n His sources have indicated to him that Mercedes \u2013 the title favourites \u2013 has as much as four seconds still lurking in the W17, just waiting to be unleashed.<\/p>\n Read more \u2013 Does Mercedes have three to four seconds in W17 left to unleash?<\/a><\/p>\n McLaren to go down Mercedes \u2018rathole\u2019?<\/p>\n Few are betting against Mercedes right now to contend for both F1 2026 championships. A team which will look to do something about that is McLaren, the reigning double champions.<\/p>\n Perhaps, McLaren will take a page out of the Mercedes book to try and do so.<\/p>\n The Mercedes W17 mousehole has stood out among F1 2026\u2019s innovations so far, the Silver Arrows enlarging it to what former Jordan F1 technical director Gary Anderson termed a \u201crathole\u201d.<\/p>\n He waits to see how McLaren, the frontrunner yet to innovate in this field, responds.<\/p>\n Read more \u2013 Will McLaren go down the Mercedes \u2018rathole\u2019?<\/a><\/p>\n Max Verstappen not chasing seven titles<\/p>\n Max Verstappen can see the parallels between himself and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.<\/p>\n Yet, even though Verstappen \u2013 yet to reach 30 \u2013 heads into F1 2026 chasing a fifth crown, he is not interested in chasing that tally of seven jointly held by Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n