Pre‑season testing began at the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya this week under an expanded five‑day program that lets teams run on three days and restricts media access. Several teams elected to skip sessions: Aston Martin delayed the AMR26’s planned debut and missed the opening two days (first running not expected until mid‑week at the earliest), Williams will skip the entire Barcelona test, and McLaren will miss the opening day, leaving multiple garages empty and Aston Martin potentially forfeiting some or all of its three allotted running days.

Aston Martin blamed technical and development hold‑ups, as engineers were still finalizing the Adrian Newey–designed AMR26 and finding it hard to translate extreme aerodynamic concepts into a completed chassis. The team’s switch to Honda as its works power‑unit supplier added pressure after Honda admitted “problems” with its new 2026 unit, citing integration and packaging challenges. Broader 2026 rule changes have also complicated efforts to meet design and weight targets. These updates include a smaller, lighter chassis, an approximately 50/50 electric/combustion power split, and a reduced minimum weight target of 768 kg. The delay is especially sensitive given the substantial investment in a new campus and Newey’s arrival.

Missing early running reduces Aston Martin’s opportunity for setup work, mileage, and data collection and limits driver acclimation for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ahead of the Bahrain test windows on February 11–13 and 18–20. The late start could compress development and comparative data gathering in a pre‑season that prioritizes reliability, particularly as manufacturers such as Audi and Honda try to maximize limited on‑track time. Ferrari is focused on establishing a reliable reference car and accumulating mileage to avoid repeating 2025 problems, while Alpine and other teams are prioritizing clean, incident‑free running. Reports say Aston Martin could attempt to run later in the Barcelona window or concentrate on the Bahrain sessions to make up lost mileage.

McLaren released digital renders of the MCL40 in a black-and-silver one-off test livery for the Barcelona shakedown. The images show Oscar Piastri’s No. 81 alongside reigning champion Lando Norris’s No. 1 and reveal technical changes, including a drooped nose, ramped sidepods, and a return to front push‑rod suspension, plus slightly larger Mastercard logos.

McLaren said the scheme is a temporary test livery and will stage an official full‑season reveal on February 9. The team said the MCL40 is designed to build on the MCL39’s performance. The MCL39 is credited with 14 wins and back‑to‑back constructors’ titles, a run that culminated in Norris’s drivers’ crown, and the new car reflects an ambitious, 20‑month redesign affecting chassis, power‑unit integration, and tire work.

The team will skip the opening day of the five‑day Barcelona shakedown and is likely to use three of the five days, possibly starting on day two or three. The MCL40 had not completed any filming or shakedown runs before the limited running. Chief designer Rob Marshall said the restricted programme is likely to mirror what McLaren will take to the first race rather than beginning from a deliberately basic baseline.

Team principal Andrea Stella framed the compressed test plan as a way to maximise on‑track development and said the wider programme remains on course despite the scale of the redesign. McLaren is targeting the Australian Grand Prix in March as its first competitive reference point to validate the car in race conditions, with several rivals also adopting staggered Barcelona schedules.

Red Bull released images, video, and renders of its 2026-spec RB22 on the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona. The team had earlier unveiled a showcar and livery at an event in Detroit, but withheld detailed angles until on-track sessions began.

The RB22 is presented as an integrated package for the 2026 regulations: it follows the new chassis rules, uses active aerodynamics, and is designed around an approximately 50:50 split between combustion and electric energy. Power comes from the DM01 power unit, the first in-house engine developed with Ford and named after the team’s late co‑founder, Dietrich Mateschitz. Sister team Racing Bulls has already run its VCARB03 chassis with the DM01, giving Red Bull an early data point.

Driving duties are shared by four-time champion Max Verstappen and rookie Isack Hadjar; both debuted new helmet designs and Sparco race suits for the launch. Verstappen told Team Redline’s Twitch stream he felt “pretty chilled” and was relaxed about the car’s competitiveness. The Barcelona test runs for five days, and teams are limited to a maximum of three running days. Red Bull chose to run from day one, matching Audi’s approach while other teams expected to start later. With early on-track mileage constrained, Red Bull is positioning the RB22 and DM01 as a combined statement of its technical direction for 2026, with detailed performance assessment pending the forthcoming track data.

Former world champion Damon Hill said Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin could spark a Brawn GP–style upset when F1’s new 2026 regulations take effect at the season opener in Melbourne in March. Newey joined Aston Martin on March 1, 2025, and has since been involved in the team’s 2026 project. Hill called the scenario plausible, but not certain.

He contrasted that potential with Aston Martin’s recent slide: the team finished seventh in the 2025 Constructors’ standings and had not won since the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix. Hill cited Jenson Button’s 2009 title with Brawn GP as a precedent for how a rules reset can reorder the pecking order.

Newey produced the AMR26 as his first car for Aston Martin and brings a record that includes more than 200 race wins and a combined 26 drivers’ and constructors’ championships. At the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, Newey publicly identified weaknesses in the team’s driver-in-the-loop simulator; afterward, Aston Martin hired Giles Wood as simulation and vehicle modeling director and engaged former Ferrari simulation lead Marco Fainello as a consultant to strengthen that capability.

Separately, Honda revealed its 2026 power unit in Tokyo and has signaled a full works return, although Honda president Koji Watanabe acknowledged development problems, saying “not everything is going well.”

Reporters and Hill framed the comparison as a realistic possibility rather than a prediction. Newey’s expertise, the simulation hires, and the wholesale technical reset create pathways for rapid improvement, but actual competitiveness will be proven on track. With the F1 rule change coming into force in March and Honda’s package still carrying uncertainty, any Aston Martin resurgence remains contingent on preseason and race-day performance rather than confirmed by the off-season narrative.

Pirelli has confirmed tire compound allocations for the upcoming five-day pre-season shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Teams may run on only three of the five days. Available rubber includes three slick compounds, including C1 (hard), C2 (medium), and C3 (soft), plus intermediates and full wets. Pirelli described the week as a tire-focused preparation rather than a full aerodynamic programme.

Cadillac will make its first on-track outing in a championship environment during the Barcelona shakedown. Williams withdrew after significant FW48 assembly delays, leaving one team absent from the private running.

Team allocations reveal contrasting test priorities. Red Bull took 18 sets of C3 softs, only one set of C2 mediums, and no C1 hards, signalling a short-run, peak-performance focus. Mercedes brought a paddock-high eight sets of C1 hards, requested 12 C3s (per reports), and skipped C2s, indicating emphasis on long runs with some short-run work. Ferrari prioritized medium-run data with 12 C2s and just three C3s. Both Ferrari and McLaren will skip the shakedown’s opening day. Other notes from the build-up to the Shakedown include Williams reportedly ordering 17 C3s before withdrawing, Haas requesting the most intermediates (six), and Audi securing the most wets (three). An unnamed reference to the reigning world champions recorded a balanced split of four hards, ten mediums, and six softs.

With teams limited to three running days, these inventory choices will tightly shape the data each squad can gather in Barcelona and help set the early direction of their 2026 programmes: heavy soft allocations point to qualifying-style exploration, while larger hard inventories indicate priorities around extended running and race simulation.