F1 Testing 2026: Lewis Hamilton on top and Fernando Alonso finally cracks

Formula 1 is back! Yes, I know it's only January but back in the day testing at this time was normal, and in the golden age - so were races too.

Sadly none of the latter this year (give it time, Liberty Media would have a 52-race calendar if they could get away with it) but we do have some shakedown testing as F1 teams get a chance to blow the cobwebs off their brand new cars ahead of the 2026 season which begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.

With a new set of rules and regulations, F1 is effectively a big reset heading into this season and while we have some clue about who may have an advantage (Mercedes and Red Bull are in the dock for being smart bears) it really is a game of 'wait and see'.

What might happen in F1 testing?

We get F1 testing under way in 2026 with five days of shakedown action (behind closed doors) in Barcelona from Monday through Friday (January 26-30).

So what can we expect? Maybe the following (maybe not)...

McLaren

McLaren will already miss the first day of the test as they are working against the clock to have their car in tip-top shape for their world championship defence. Once they do get going though drama erupts among the Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fans when it turns out Piastri has done most of the mileage on the colder days. After the team lock themselves away to look at the 814-page 'Papaya Rules' regulations, they randomly decide Norris has to wear an additional woolly jumper under his race suit for the sweltering Singapore Grand Prix later in the year.

Mercedes

There's a bombshell on the first day of testing when Toto Wolff confirms the staff member behind the ratio compression engine hack that all the teams are complaining about and worth 0.3 seconds per lap advantage (that's huge for you casuals out there) to Mercedes. Suddenly appearing on the pitwall are none other Dick Dastardly and his right-hand man (dog) Muttley - who have joined Mercedes to try and grab those marginal gains. Later on in the test, the FIA foils a plot to sabotage a number of teams in the pitlane with slippery oil, to which a member of the Mercedes crew could be heard saying: "Drat, and double Drat!".

Red Bull

It's not a good start to testing for Red Bull as they miss their first planned morning due to an enforced 'ice-breaker' session as Max Verstappen has to get to know his fourth team-mate in just over a year. With the name tags off though Red Bull get down to business. Further setbacks follow though as Ford have had an engine mix-up as they get back up to speed in their return to F1. They have stuck a 1.1litre Zetec in the back of the Red Bulls. Meanwhile somewhere in the UK, an elderly lady is delighted her new Ford Focus can help her complete an all-round shopping trip in less than five minutes.

Ferrari

Smiles all round at Maranello. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc end the week fastest by nearly a second as fears over unsettled drivers and team members subside. "The car hasn't looked this good since the days of Michael Schumacher", Hamilton beams from ear-to-ear to the media. Team boss Fred Vasseur looks on grinning... before shock covers his face. Back at Ferrari, the F2004 that brought Schumacher his fifth and final Ferrari title is missing, and buried in a Ferrari cupboard are the shattered remains of this year's SF-26 chassis with a small note saying: "we tried".

Williams

Having ended the season as arguably the most improved team in 2025, Williams will be hoping for a return to the big time in 2026. Team principal James Vowles says as much at his end of season meeting, asking the team to channel the energy and spirit from the past to make Williams a force to be reckoned with again. Vowles was hoping that some of his speech would invoke the drive from the championship days of Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell in the 1990s. What he didn't account for was that his team would only go back as far as 2019 and decide not to have their car ready for the first test.

Racing Bulls

Fears that the reward for being the top Racing Bulls driver this year could result in being given a Max Verstappen kicking throughout 2027 at the senior team leaves drivers Liam Lawson and Arvin Lindblad more than concerned. Determined not to take any chances, they both go slower and slower throughout the test to the point they both end up stopping on track. Team boss Alan Permane tries to assure the drivers there is nothing to worry about, only for Lawson and Lindblad to find Verstappen's last team-mate Yuki Tsunoda curled up in a foetal position at the back of the Racing Bulls garage.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso is at risk of missing the start of the 2026 season after an unfortunate incident during testing. No, he doesn't crash, instead he is once again reunited with Honda misery following his dark McLaren days and it has finally tipped him over the edge. After breaking down on his first lap out of the pits, Alonso sprints back towards the garage from the other side of the track constantly shouting "GP2 ENGINE!" at the top of his voice with arms outstretched out and eyes bulging. He even goes past the garage into the paddock and exits the circuit. Only Flavio Briatore, promising a third world title with a revamped Renault team, stops him from running complete riot in Barcelona. Aston Martin cautiously confirm they will assess the situation ahead of the season.

Haas

F1's oldest American team on the grid turns up at pre-season testing in high hopes of finally being able to fly the Stars and Stripes with pride, but they get to their garage to find out the locks have been changed. Also all the US flags around the team seem to have mysteriously been replaced by Japanese ones. British driver Ollie Bearman takes out his phone to see a 'Toyota are back!' headline before the realisation that the team's new highly inspired Toyota Gazoo Racing livery from their Japanese partners was a huge red flag that a coup was always on the cards.

Audi

Audi just couldn't work it out. Their first ever testing session saw them post modest times, but certainly nothing disastrous as they left Barcelona with heads held high and plenty of information to assess and keep building towards F1 2026. So that didn't explain why everyone was laughing every time they went past the pit-straight. Of all people it took German rivals Mercedes to break it to them, with Toto Wolff letting Audi chief Mattia Binotto know: "If you want to be taken seriously change what has got to be one of the worst F1 liveries of all time."

Alpine

There is a huge breakthrough at Alpine during the winter and it's a much needed one after being the worst team of the 2025 season. Their Barcelona lap times not only looked faster than previously, but they also sounded a lot different too. After much analysing a pit-lane sleuth soon works out that Pierre Gasly has found more speed in the car by simply using his feet like a Flintstones character while shouting 'NNNEEEOOOOOOOWWWWW'.

Cadillac

As expected there are plenty of set-up problems at Cadillac given they are a brand new team in F1, but Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are perplexed as to why their cars are so unbalanced heading into the first right-hand turn. After a detailed investigation within the team, it turns out the mechanics, pinched from the land of oval racing in the USA where turning left is your only option, have struggled to shake off some old habits.

READ MORE: F1 fans facing ANOTHER TV blackout for testing in Bahrain

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