What we learned from the Barcelona Shakedown

Mileage, mileage, mileage was the mantra of the Barcelona Shakedown as teams worked to clock up as many laps as they could to generate data that will prove invaluable in understanding the new-for-2026 Formula 1 cars. So how did it go?

You beat us to it – that was going to be our question!

Ha! Great minds! The overall vibe coming out of the shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a very positive one. The point of the event was to allow teams to get out on track and start running their new machines – and for 10 of the 11 of them, they did just that. The reliability was very impressive.

On the first day of the first test in 2014, which was the last time the regulations featured such a dramatic overhaul in the rules, 93 laps were completed by all teams.

In this year’s opening shakedown, one team alone managed more than that on the opening day while the combined day one tally was around five times bigger.

Considering there have been such dramatic changes to the chassis rules – including the introduction of active aero – and the power units, where the engines feature a near 50-50 split between electric and fuel power, that kind of running is very impressive.

Agreed, we are suitably impressed. You mentioned only 10 of the 11 teams were there. What happened to Williams?

Delays in production meant Williams took the decision to skip the Barcelona Shakedown and instead do a Virtual Track Test (VTT) while focusing on making sure the car is ready for when official pre-season testing begins in Bahrain on February 11.

Boss James Vowles is hopeful the delay won’t put them on the backfoot, with the team set to conduct a filming day before the six days of running in the desert, where teams will start to focus on intensifying their programme to test reliability before starting to look at the chase for performance.

And what about Aston Martin? They turned up late, didn’t they?

They did indeed. The Silverstone-based squad sent the car on a plane (usually it travels by road) to Barcelona on Wednesday and, following a mammoth effort from the team, they were able to get the first Adrian Newey-designed Aston Martin out on track for a few laps on Thursday before Fernando Alonso took over on Friday and started to claw back as much mileage as he could.

It’s a good effort from Aston, who have swapped Mercedes power for a works Honda supply from 2026 and beyond. They are doing their own gearbox, too, plus the suspension (these were items they previously took from Mercedes). So it’s a lot of new things that are being brought together at once.

How good is Newey’s Aston Martin?

It’s too early to know. Similarly, it’s too hard to know who looks strong and who doesn’t look strong. It’s clear some teams, like Mercedes, were very strong out of the box and across all three days of their running. But it’s impossible to know what programme they were running relative to others around them.

Fair enough, thought we’d try our luck and ask. What about the new teams?

It’s been a very strong start for both Cadillac and Audi. These two faced a huge task to be ready. For Cadillac, they were building a team from scratch. For Audi, while they had rebranded the Sauber team, they are using their own power unit – the first they’ve built. Understandably, they encountered some niggles but both still ran on all three of their allocated days to gather valuable data.

And how about the new and returning drivers?

As you can imagine, after a year on the sidelines, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were itching to get back behind the wheel with the duo returning with Cadillac. Both clocked up some good mileage across the three days to help dust off the rust and get back in the groove.

While they have competed in more than 500 Grands Prix between them, their fellow rival Arvid Lindblad has zero under his belt. He’ll make his debut with Racing Bulls this year – and got his first proper laps on the board in the new machine as he shared driving duties with Liam Lawson.

Anything else notable happen?

Reigning World Champion Lando Norris got his first chance to drive a Formula 1 with the number 1 plastered on it – “it is still a surreal feeling, the whole situation of being champion, but it doesn’t change anything apart from I’m at the top of the timing screens before we’ve even gone out because I’m the lowest number now!” – while Red Bull’s debut power unit, produced in partnership with Ford, impressed onlookers as it ran reliably in the Red Bull and Racing Bull.

So, it all seems rather positive, then. When will we start to get more idea of the pecking order?

You don’t have too long to wait. Teams will head back to base to tinker with their cars next week, while others will officially launch their seasons – that being Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin. Then it’s full steam ahead to Bahrain, which will host two three-day tests.

Nice – and is it true we can watch these tests?

You can indeed. While the Barcelona Shakedown was held behind closed doors (head over to our YouTube channel if you want to watch daily highlights packages from the action), the two tests in Bahrain will be open affairs.

The last hour of every day in the first test will be live, while the second will be live from the minute the pit lane opens to the minute it shuts.