The first test data: energy management weighs on the stopwatch

The 2026 season officially begins with testing in Bahrain and, finally, we had the opportunity to observe and analyze the first data arriving from the Sakhir track. It is useless to specify further how, from a pure performance perspective, the data certainly cannot be particularly significant, but the ideas that emerged even just from the first day with these new cars were many and we will summarize them here to begin to become familiar with what we will see on the track with the new technical regulations. Eyes focused on the straights rather than the curves. It is well known that the great revolution in the regulation is the introduction of the new Power Units and that efficiency in managing them will almost certainly be the key to success on the track. The long era of technical stability in terms of the drive unit has trained us to look for differences in cornering performance between teams to find where the biggest gaps are generated, with slow corners fundamental in the era of heavy and not very agile ground effect single-seaters. What the first day of 2026 testing showed us is a hint of a reversal of this paradigm, with truly macroscopic differences in sprint speeds and energy management over the course of the same lap which also had a marked effect on the stopwatch. The first difference was that relating to the power discharged to the ground in the laps done in a mode that we can call “performance”, i.e. in search of the flying lap time, and one instead in a pace simulation regime. The speed differences, for everyone, in these two conditions are truly macroscopic, with full output up to the high revs on the single lap, which is instead counterbalanced by a very early maximum speed and then a very long clipping phase in pace simulation. The distribution along the lap changes the result: Norris’ best time mode. Even within the same lap we saw important variations in power output with a marked impact on the sector time. A classic example is Norris’ best time. The World Champion shows exactly how the power unit effect could have an exponentially greater influence on these new cars than in the past. Looking at the graph and focusing on the sprint speeds, we notice that in the first sector and in particular on the starting straight, McLaren number 1 is decidedly slower than Verstappen and Leclerc, with a top speed of up to 11 km/h less than the Red Bull. A bad Turn 4 then puts Norris over half a second behind Verstappen. In the second sector, however, things are starting to change. Also thanks to a glaring error by Verstappen in the quick change of direction at turns 7-8 Norris halves the disadvantage, but we can see that already in the sprint before turn 10 the Englishman is the fastest with a difference of 8 km/h on Verstappen and 10 on Leclerc. Verstappen responds in some way with a fast pass at turn 12 but it is still Norris who puts all his power to the ground in the long straight leading to the last corner, passing faster than Leclerc and Verstappen by 13 and 14 km/h, differences that in recent years we have not been used to seeing so marked. Verstappen, who had now consumed all of his lead in the first sector, was in line with Norris’ time but another mistake at the last corner denies him the best time, but above all it shows how engine modes have a decidedly macroscopic impact on performance. RedBull pushes hard on the PU all day Another aspect that we have noticed since the morning is that at RedBull there is clearly an ongoing stress validation process of the new drive unit built in Milton Keynes. In fact, we saw Verstappen record the highest speed of the day (344 km/h without a slipstream, compared to 332 for his closest pursuer Ocon), but it wasn’t an episode, with the Dutchman completing over 120 laps, often seeking peak performance with speed peaks often around 335-338 km/h. In the morning, Lindblad with the VCARB also gave us the impression of pushing hard on the engine front, which leads us to definitely think that the intention of the men led by Laurent Mekies is to put the new unit under pressure. This also brings with it some side considerations, such as the not particularly brilliant performance of the new RB22 in the “load” sections of the track, with a single-seater that proved to be alternatively heavy or with a not particularly high level of downforce. Beyond impressive reliability for an engine made entirely by RedBull, the aerodynamic performance in terms of load and efficiency also remains to be verified in the next few days to find out whether they have even given up some load points in order to optimize battery consumption in Milton Keynes.
TIMING Solid and sly McLaren, Ferrari good on the energy front but with a rear to tame With a Mercedes seen only in the morning with Russell, but which lost almost the entire afternoon due to a technical problem, the other cars that we were able to analyze in more depth, although limiting ourselves to the very first impact of the data, were McLaren and Ferrari. The reigning World Champions seemed ready to us and with a car that still follows their DNA: the aerodynamic load still appeared to be a characteristic of the car, with high cornering speeds and excellent pace in the longer stints. The power, deriving from the Mercedes PU, never seemed to be lacking, albeit with the need for a certain level of management even along the same lap. It remains remarkable, however, that in the moments when Norris asked for a much higher number of horsepower than the competition, the rear end had no difficulty putting them to the ground, while still remaining quite stable. We’ll see if this trend continues in the next few days.
The sensations on the SF26 are a little different. There is clearly no need to be alarmist, but the telemetry data analyzed on many laps of both Hamilton in the morning and then Leclerc in the afternoon, seem to show a rear that is still quite unstable at the moment, with the drivers busy trying to control it very often when going through and exiting corners. Both red standard bearers showed some difficulty in quickly changing the direction of the snake in the second sector, a sign that the optimal balance has not yet been found. The engine front, however, did not appear to be lacking, indeed at times Leclerc showed excellent ideas in the sprint with a level of energy that almost always lasted for the whole lap or almost, even if with the need to dedicate himself to recharging which appeared in the form of lift and coast a few times before turn 4. Let it be clear, however, that this last theme is not really unique to Ferrari, because we saw all the drivers, even Verstappen and Norris, experimenting with various lift and coast, and various techniques in many points of the track which we will analyze more calmly in the next few days. Tomorrow day 2, in search of confirmations and other news. The tests will continue with another 8 hours on track, in which we will try to understand if there will be a tendency to converge on certain aspects or if the differences in interpretation, especially with regards to the Power Unit, will remain marked. At the same time, it will be interesting to begin to see the first aerodynamic variations that will lead the teams to better understand how the teams work on a fundamental topic such as aerodynamic-engine interaction.