Are Mercedes 2026 F1 title favourites? Winners and losers from first test in Barcelona

A private five-day ‘shakedown’ gave an intriguing first glimpse of the biggest regulation change in F1 history

We had onlookers peering through binoculars on the hills. We had boisterous security guards warding off unwanted intruders. And we had a broadcast blackout, the ultimate paradox in this fly-on-the-wall Formula 1 era.

All in all, it was a peculiar start to the 2026 season this week in Barcelona. It always looked an oddity on the pre-season schedule that this week’s five-day “shakedown” event – essentially referring to the first occasion a team trials its new car – would be held in secret. There was a limit on photographs, videos, interviews and the release of lap times, despite 40 hours of track time in total.

Yet inevitably, information has leaked out. With two more pre-season tests to come in Bahrain next month, ahead of the season-opener in Australia on 8 March, this was not the teams performing at their optimum. Some did well to make the test at all, given Williams’s absence due to car delays.

The likes of Mercedes and Red Bull were out of the blocks quickly, while Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin maximised their development time in joining later in the week. The miles clocked varied up and down the grid but for new teams, like Audi and Cadillac, every lap helped as they gathered crucial data to prepare for the campaign ahead.

But who were the winners and losers from this week’s first pre-season test?

Winners

Mercedes

The frontrunners heading into this season, such was their prowess in their power unit development back in 2014, nothing this week has dampened that label. In fact, it has solidified.

The Silver Arrows were the first car out of the pit-lane at 9am on Monday morning and racked up some impressive feats. By the end of their third day of running, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had completed 500 laps between them. Not only that, but Antonelli was fastest on day two and Russell on day four.

Of course, lap times should be taken with a pinch of salt, this week of all weeks. More onus should be placed on the leaderboard at the final pre-season test in Bahrain (18-20 February). But Mercedes’s reliability and outright speed was impressive amidst the dampness of Catalunya. There were no crashes and no deviations from planned track time.

The talk of the paddock is that Mercedes are now beyond focusing on reliability and are actually fine-tuning their car setup. If you had to pick a favourite right now, Toto Wolff’s outfit would be on pole position.

George Russell’s Mercedes team impressed this week (Getty Images)

Red Bull-Ford

It wasn’t completely plain sailing for Red Bull’s fascinating new engine partnership with American giant Ford. Isack Hadjar’s crash late on Tuesday, triggering a badly-damaged rear suspension, was clearly a setback.

However, Hadjar was the fastest man on day one and Max Verstappen enjoyed a full day of running on Friday, with spare parts flown in at the last minute from Milton Keynes. Racing Bulls also completed 321 laps; critical experience for British rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Russell was impressed with Red Bull as, at least to our knowledge, they suffered no power unit setbacks. Much has been made of whether a new engine manufacturer can really challenge at the top in their debut season. Thus far, there are no glaring alarm bells, which has to be a positive.

Max Verstappen testing in Barcelona (Red Bull Racing)

Ferrari

Your fingers are crossed as much as mine are, given the disastrous 2025 campaign Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton endured. But overall, it was a solid week’s work for the Scuderia.

Testing a new car which has a new philosophy – including a fresh pushrod front and rear suspension – the Scuderia started on Tuesday in wet conditions, opting not to amend their order of play. That in itself spoke of a team with a quiet confidence.

Charles Leclerc nor Hamilton had lit up the timing sheets, before the seven-time world champion set the quickest time of the week in the final hour, a tenth faster then Russell on Thursday. They also clocked up more than 400 laps and their power unit completed nearly 900, with Cadillac and Haas’ involvement. Ferrari are known for mechanical issues but, here, there were none visible to the public eye.

Lewis Hamilton testing the 2026 Ferrari F1 car in Barcelona (Scuderia Ferrari)

Losers

McLaren

It was suspicious that the world champions were slow out of the blocks this week. Pencilled in for day three, Zak Brown’s outfit (decked in a temporary black livery) did not enter the field of play until late on Wednesday morning.

Team principal Andrea Stella insisted this was to maximise development time, with their car unlikely to change radically between now and Melbourne. Yet Oscar Piastri was sat in the garage for most of Thursday, due to a fuel systems issue.

Norris’s rapid lap (just a tenth off Russell) late on Friday should give cause for optimism. However, compared to their usual rivals, McLaren look to be on the back-foot at this stage. That’s not to say, of course, their excellent engineering team, headed by ex-Red Bull guru Rob Marshall, can’t turn the tables in the weeks ahead.

Lando Norris testing the 2026 McLaren F1 car in Barcelona (McLaren Formula 1 team)

Aston Martin

It was all rather frantic in the unveiling of Adrian Newey’s first car as Aston Martin designer-in-chief. It was only in the final hour on Thursday that Lance Stroll took to the track in the AMR26, like McLaren decked in an all-black livery.

Speculation is rife that most of the delays were to do with fine-tuning the new Honda power unit. As such, Aston only ran a limited programme, with Fernando Alonso getting a first taste of the car with a small amount of running on Friday.

There is an intriguing caveat, though: the Aston car is very unique compared to the rest of the field. The nose (wider than normal), sidepods (thin with a heavy undercut) and engine cover (cut away) are all different to their competitors. What does Newey have up his sleeve this time?

Fernando Alonso testing in Barcelona (Aston Martin F1)

Audi

Despite being one of the first teams to emerge from the pit-lane on Monday, amid much excitement, Audi encountered a few problems this week.

Gabriel Bortoleto completed 27 laps on Monday before encountering an unknown issue while Nico Hulkenberg was forced to stop out on track on Wednesday after a hydraulic failure.

Aside from Cadillac, who also had a couple of problems, and late arrivals Aston, Audi completed the least amount of laps of the week at around 200. Nobody is expecting these two new teams to be competing at the very summit in their first few years on the grid. There’ll be many more obstacles for Audi and Cadillac to overcome as we close in on the season-opening grand prix. The next test is in Bahrain on 11-13 February.

Audi’s new F1 car at their launch in Berlin last week (AFP/Getty)