Official F1 Pre-Season Testing Thread 2026 - Bahrain

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Mr Jack said:
You can't run engines that cost this much to develop and build in F2. It's just not possible. They don't have the budgets.



Not even race one and you're throwing this kind of hyperbole around? Come on. This is patently ridiculous.
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Perhaps but I haven't seen so much junk in my 30+years of watching F1 and I thought 2014 regs were bad!

This video shows corner speeds as slow if not slower than F2 cars!

 
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t2na said:
Surely it means the cars at the back just aren't going to have nearly enough time to spool up? We've seen it before when the last driver arrives to their grid slot that they've sometimes just been caught out by the lights almost going out right away.
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The guys at the back are better off than the front few rows.

Two main concerns are the turbo and the state-of-charge, and revving the car impacts both of these.
  • The last car few cars will already have the turbo spinning and full battery so as soon as the lights start, they can rev and be ready in less time.
  • Cars at the front will have full batteries but turbos will be idle so they need to rev for longer to spin the turbo, however, this also charges the battery so you're also overloading the electronics and risking issues.
Ferrari raised this ages ago and that's why they have a smaller turbo.
 
Mesai said:
The guys at the back are better off than the front few rows.

Two main concerns are the turbo and the state-of-charge, and revving the car impacts both of these.
  • The last car few cars will already have the turbo spinning and full battery so as soon as the lights start, they can rev and be ready in less time.
  • Cars at the front will have full batteries but turbos will be idle so they need to rev for longer to spin the turbo, however, this also charges the battery so you're also overloading the electronics and risking issues.
Ferrari raised this ages ago and that's why they have a smaller turbo.
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Ah that makes sense, thank you.
 
Mr Jack said:
The standings of the teams based on their fastest times:

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Other than broad trends I wouldn't read much into this, but Aston still sure does stick out like a sore thumb. Oh Adrian.
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I know these early releases have to be taken with a grain of salt, but ouch - it's shaping up to be a bland season if teams are this far apart.
 
MooMoo444 said:
I know these early releases have to be taken with a grain of salt, but ouch - it's shaping up to be a bland season if teams are this far apart.
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For comparison the same chart for last year would have put the fastest and slowest cars about 1.7s apart; whereas the first quali put the entire grid within 1.3s. I'd also expect the cars to be closer during this weeks' test as the teams improve and also more of them try hero runs. So, apart from Aston who really do look dreadful, I think we'll see the cars still reasonably close by F1 standards if not as absurdly tight as last year.
 
And realistically at the first year of new regulations we always see a big(ger) gap between teams based on who implements the regs better RB in '22, Merc (teams) in '14 and Brawn in '09 all had a massive advantage that was closed over time.
 
Johnz0r said:
Aston are really struggling dear me.
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Slow, not much running, looks difficult to handle; and now having to be returned by crane. I can see them being the absolute backmarkers this year. Alonso and Papa Stroll will be fuming if that pans out.
 
Rule change been sent out for voting - compression ratio needs to be 16:1 max hot and cold by 1st August... as reported by Crofty on the Sky live feed.
 
SoliD said:
Rule change been sent out for voting - compression ratio needs to be 16:1 max hot and cold by 1st August... as reported by Crofty on the Sky live feed.
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Who is voting on it? Just the teams or?

CaptainRAVE said:
But what if they can’t test it hot?
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edit: Found the answers here: it's the Engine manufacturers, FOM and FIA voting. And the test will be conducted at 130 degrees; it's geometric compression ratio so they only need to measure dimensions. How hot do the engines actually run? I'd have thought it was higher than that.
 
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Mr Jack said:
Who is voting on it? Just the teams or?
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Over recent weeks and months, the FIA and the Power Unit Manufacturers have collaboratively developed a methodology to quantify how the compression ratio changes from ambient to operating conditions. Following validation of this approach, a proposal has been submitted whereby, from 1 August 2026, compliance with the compression ratio limit must be demonstrated not only at ambient conditions, but also at a representative operating temperature of 130°C.

The vote has been submitted to the Power Unit Manufacturers, and its outcome is expected within the next 10 days and will be communicated in due course. As with all Formula 1 regulatory changes, any amendment remains subject to final approval by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
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www.fia.com

FIA statement: Formula 1 Power Unit Advisory Committee

The FIA has recently launched an e-vote primarily centred on a proposed change to the assessment of the power unit compression ratio in running condition.
www.fia.com www.fia.com
 
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