We’re now mere hours away from the start of a new era for Formula 1. However, there are concerns that not everyone is ready for the Barcelona shakedown.
This season, teams face one of the biggest revamps in the sport’s history. With overhauled engines, sustainable fuels, and a completely new aerodynamic concept, each car is bound to face some teething issues, making it imperative that they hit the track ASAP to iron out any kinks.
In this context, the first test in Barcelona running from January 26-30 is a great opportunity to get going, and rack up a few miles behind closed doors (as the shakedown will be held in private). But there are already a few warning signs that teams are running out of time.
McLaren and Ferrari have announced that they won’t be running on day one, while Williams won’t be taking part in the event at all. Of course, the teams are framing their absence as “planned additional development time”, and it’s way too early to jump to conclusions. After all, it’s possible that they’re so well prepared, they don’t even need this additional testing! No McLaren, Williams, or Ferrari on day one
However, three teams missing the very first day where they can fully test their new challengers does beg wider questions about their progress and the event itself, which is not a regular fixture on the F1 calendar.
Of all the day one shakedown absentees, Williams is arguably the most glaring. The team publicly announced that it had stopped developing last year’s car pretty early in the season. So delays to the FW48’s development plan will be a major disappointment.
Instead of travelling to Spain, they’ll conduct a series of internal tests, including a virtual track testing program, with the aim of being ready for the next round of testing in February.
There’s a long road ahead in the development of these cars, so it’s not the end of the world for Williams. But they may now spend vital testing time in Bahrain doing initial checks.
For McLaren and Ferrari, fewer warning lights are flashing. Last week, Andrea Stella explained that “every day of development, every day of design, was adding a little bit of performance.” So, the Woking outfit is waiting until the last moment to hit the track (while still getting the miles in later on). It’s a similar story for the Scuderia, who’ll start running on day two or three of the test.
Teams will be permitted to run for three of the five days, so it’s not like McLaren and Ferrari will miss out. Fred Vasseur has confirmed that his team will run the SF-26 for the first time since its public debut at Fiorano on day two, but they’ll “have to finetune with the weather forecast” – it seems neither of these expected frontrunners is in a rush to hit the track!How teams are shaping up for F1’s new era
Teams have taken very different approaches to launching their 2026 spec cars. As you’d expect, Cadillac and Audi have taken a guarded approach, stage-managing a lot of what we’ve seen so far.
Interestingly, Alpine unveiled their new car onboard a ship – which was something of a throwback – but it was more of a livery launch than anything else. Red Bull’s own livery launch marked a surprising departure from its traditional colours, while Haas issued a predictable render with Toyota TGR branding emblazoned on the side. Ferrari and Mercedes have shown a little more of what they’ve got in-store. Both cars have already hit the test track, with Mercedes racking up 200 km of mileage on their new engine. During their filming days, both also showed parts that are clearly well-developed. Ferrari’s ‘jagged’ engine cover being one of the more noticeable. It’ll be interesting to see which team has taken the right development approach. Racing Bulls is another to have hit the test track early on at Imola (where Arvid Lindblad binned it!) A few trackside shots revealed an abnormally large airbox, but there was little to learn from a short 15 km run. It may be behind closed doors, but the longer Barcelona shakedown will tell more in the coming days. What will we learn at the Barcelona shakedown?
Unlike the private filming days some of the teams have embarked upon, the full shakedown won’t have the same mileage and tyre limitations. This will give them time to test all the essential systems, get a few laps into their new power units, and see if simulations match up to reality. It’ll be difficult to ascertain performance, but it’ll give us an idea of reliability.
As with everything in F1 nowadays, we’re also bound to get daily broadcasts, both with soundbites from the team bosses, and highlights of the new-look cars racking up laps.
That said, it won’t exactly be an on-track action-fest. Teams are restricted to three days of running, there will be a lot of methodical setup work going on. Perhaps it’s for the best that it’s not going to be on TV! At least it’ll help most teams prepare for the sport’s full traditional testing program in Bahrain on February 11-13 and February 18-20.
Stay tuned to GP247 as we unpack all the news from the F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown as it unfolds. (Quotes by SkySports & Formula 1).