Beta F1-Gears

McH, no sé si te servirán estas foticos.

No sabía que los coches de este año llevan balizas V16 en los retrovisores     .



Formula 1 @F1 · 4h

🚨 New safety feature for 2026 🚨

Lights will flash on the wing mirrors and at the rear when:

👉 A car has stopped on track
👉 A car is going under 20 km/h outside the pit lane



En este vídeo se ve cómo se ponen en marcha, aunque de día no se ve mucho     .


https://x.com/F1/status/2021589828861661326?s=20

Andrea Galante @AndreaGalante__ · 25min

#Ferrari has updated the front wing for the Bahrain tests. The main plane features a flatter and more linear shape, the endplates have a different curvature, and the third flap has been reshaped at the trailing edge. Gurney flaps have also been added.

Rosario Giuliana @RosarioGiuliana · 17min

First #Ferrari updates spotted: new floor and front wing

Los de RaceFans han recopilado algunas fotos de hoy en este enlace:


https://www.racefans.net/2026/02/11/pictures-2026-f1-pre-season-test-two-day-one-bahrain/

Aprovechando que los datos de esta semana no son "de verdad" , empezamos a probar los scripts de gráficas temporada 2026   













Hay más... en camino   

Cita de: GoVal en Feb 11, 2026, 08:11 PMMcH, no sé si te servirán estas foticos.
 ...

Cita de: GoVal en Feb 11, 2026, 08:10 PM

A ver si va a ser por eso, por lo que han tenido problemas de datos de temperatura de motor...  

Horemos para que no se vuelvan a poner de moda los modelos de tostadoras de Newey   

The trick making Verstappen and Red Bull stand out from trackside

Early on the first day of Formula 1's Bahrain test it was apparent Max Verstappen was doing something others were not.

Verstappen has been an early proponent of using an unorthodox downshifting technique that offered us the first real sign of potential tricks to use high-revving engines to help charge the batteries.

Nothing crazy has quite come to pass but throughout Wednesday's running Verstappen was consistently using first gear where it would never normally be needed and where (initially) everyone else was using second gear.

Before this year, the slow Turn 10 left-hander would normally be taken in second gear – and by the majority, it still is. So the big spike in revs and the squirm under braking when Verstappen flashed into view on a push lap for the first time was striking.

For regular trackside insight throughout F1 testing, join The Race Members' Club - claim a free 7-day trial here

Verstappen downshifted to first gear while still doing a lot of the braking work, so the rev rise was significant - but obviously within the engine's tolerances - and the car behaviour shifted a lot too.

Anyone who has driven a road car with a manual gearbox, or even done simracing of some kind, will be familiar with the uncomfortable lurch and/or locking that can occur when downshifting overenthusiastically.

It is a familiar impact even on an F1 car and it is counterintuitive for drivers, who need to pre-empt it to deal with it most effectively, and requires good pitch control and stability from the car itself to not react too aggressively.

Verstappen was driving like this right from the start, throughout the day, and on both push laps and sustained running. It became a technique adopted or experimented with by a couple of others as the day progressed but feels like something that Red Bull is deploying as a deliberate tactic the most, and to the best effect, and Verstappen already seems relatively at ease in terms of mastering.

These approaches are all about the 2026 engines and the need to recharge the battery as much as possible in order to feed the much more powerful MGU-K. There are different ways of doing this, like more extreme lifting and coasting to what has become the norm of late to recover energy at the end of the straights, but harvesting energy from the rear axle under braking.

Another specific pattern, for example, was Verstappen seemingly downshifting in pairs as he moved down the gearbox – for example, doing fifth-to-fourth-to-third as a double downshift, then a slight pause, then third-to-second-to-first very quickly again. 

What Verstappen was doing all day in the Red Bull, Audi switched to quite early late in the morning having initially started in the more conventional manner. Both Gabriel Bortoleto in the morning and Nico Hulkenberg In the afternoon didn't look particularly comfortable with what the car was doing. It seemed a lot more disruptive and uncomfortable to deal with.

By comparison, the Red Bull looked relatively neat and tidy. There were a few slides, especially into Turn 10. That is a particularly tricky corner, coming from Turn 9, and there's a lot of wind there which caught a lot of cars out through the day. There was nothing particularly problematic, though, and it felt a world away from 12 months ago, where Verstappen was obviously displeased with the awkwardness of the car.

This is an entirely new generation, though, and the techniques that we are seeing are a great example of that. It might turn out to just be a period of experimentation over the course of this incredibly steep learning curve that all the teams and drivers are on, and the Red Bull technique might not be the same on Friday as it is today.

Other teams might change what they're doing, too, as Red Bull will not be the only team and engine manufacturer that knows 'if we downshift aggressively we can charge the battery'. But on Wednesday it was an area in which Verstappen and his car looked and sounded at odds with others.

The Ferrari, for example, is completely conventional (and not particularly planted). The same goes for its customer teams. The Mercedes engine cars seem to be eschewing this downshifting technique as well, although Alex Albon was maybe experimenting with first gear at Turn 10 early in the evening.

That's what it sounded a little bit like, but nowhere near as notably as Verstappen or the Audi drivers were, so it might have been a late downshift, closer to the apex – by which point the engine is further down the rev range so the downshift is less destabilising but also the less useful it'll be in terms of that extra bit of recharge.

It's not going to be the silver bullet for why Red Bull's engine seems to be quite encouraging in terms of how much it can recharge and therefore deploy the maximum of down the straights.

However, given Red Bull was making noises about the potential for extreme, high-revving tactics for nearly two years, it could be that the entire foundation of its engine design and energy recovery philosophy has been rooted in a high tolerance for aggressive treatment.

Maybe it will prove to be something others cannot replicate, maybe it is a different way of achieving exactly the same result.

Right now it is mainly just interesting to observe early on that it seems to be going down this route, and that Verstappen seems to have adjusted to it well.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-trick-making-verstappen-and-red-bull-stand-out-from-trackside/

First look at Audi's dramatic new sidepods in F1 testing



Audi has appeared at Formula 1's pre-season test in Bahrain with an interesting change of sidepod concept.

The team was one of the first to commit to an initial design specification for its R26, having had its car complete an initial shakedown at Barcelona in early January.

That version of the car ran through the first closed test at the same track at the end of the month, as Audi continued work at its factory on development parts that will likely come through up to the first race in Australia.

The first fruit of its efforts have now appeared with a change of design for the sidepods appearing on Wednesday morning in Bahrain as Gabriel Bortoleto began running.



The new sidepods mark a move away from the horizontal slatted inlet idea that appeared on Audi's launch spec version.

The inlets have been made smaller and more vertical – somewhat similar in the shape to the infamous and ultimately unsuccessful Mercedes 'zeropods' that it started the ground effect era with in 2022.

However, unlike that Mercedes, Audi has retained the sidepod bodywork.

This has been further refined from its original version though, with a more aggressively shaped upper surface that helps increase the downwash effect.



Audi has also appeared with a different front wing design. As well as tweaks to the flap profiles, it features two large housings - although it is not clear if these are for the adjustment mechanism or are for measurement purposes.



https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/first-look-at-audis-dramatic-new-sidepods-in-f1-testing/

Gary Anderson's verdict on upgraded Audi 2026 F1 car



As Audi was the first team to run its 2026 car on track, it's only right that it's the first team to hit the track with visible updates, most obviously a dramatic change to its sidepods.

The difference between what it ran in the behind-closed-doors Barcelona shakedown and this first Bahrain pre-season test is dramatic, but as you learn about these new cars it's inevitably that's what we will be seeing.

The front wing has changed as part of this new package. This comparison shows the Barcelona front wing (top) and the Bahrain version (below).



The mainplane and its swoopy profile look very similar, but Audi seems to have added a small turning vane (red ellipse) to the rear of the front wing endplate lower tunnel. The trailing edge profile of the rear element (red highlight) has also been altered so is now more loaded inboard. Both of these changes achieve more of that dreaded outwash.

I am assuming that these two components (light blue ellipse) are the front wing actuators and not something just being used for testing. If they are, then the small vertical link that has the light blue arrow pointing to it means that they will be opening both flaps. In other words, the slot gap between the mainplane and the second element will open for the straightline mode.

On most others, we have seen them dropping the angle of the two flaps or as Mercedes and Aston seems to do, drop the angle on the rearmost flap.



We talk a lot about airflow structure, which is how the airflow is affected by passing over the wing and body surfaces. This airflow also affects the performance of what's behind it. So what's coming along behind that front wing flow structure change? This shot is from Barcelona, and you can see that for this initial version it followed the path from 2025.



However, the lower shot from Bahrain shows Audi has now headed off on a tangent. It is very different visually, a bit lumpier and bumpier but not unlike the Mercedes zero-sidepod solution of yesteryear, and will have a major influence on the airflow structure around the sidepods.

One thing we need to remember is that for 2026's active aerodynamics, the airflow coming off the front wing in straightline mode and cornering mode will be quite different. It's not just about optimising the car for a small front wing angle variation for different circuits, this large front wing angle variation will be happening each lap.



Audi has gone to more of a swept-down top surface for the sidepod as opposed to a more compact Coke bottle. This will help get more airflow down into the back of the car, improving the performance of the rear wing and diffuser. It also reduces the airflow around the side of the sidepod, airflow that can have a negative effect on the underfloor performance by getting pulled into the low pressure area underneath the car.

The bargeboards for this year were intended to create inwash. By regulation, they go outwards from the front corner of the sidepods to the rear outer sidewall of the front tyre. This is to contain the wake behind the front tyre and means that your own car suffers from that turbulence as opposed to sending it outboard for someone trying to overtake you to deal with.



These arrows of various colours are to show how the teams are going about mitigating that problem. Basically, the fact the bargeboards, by definition, are wider at the front than at the rear means they will create a low pressure area behind them. These horizontal slot gaps allow airflow to be pulled through them into that low-pressure area and then let it join up with the airflow coming through the sidepod front corner undercut.

The curved white arrow indicates a small opening or inlet duct. I'm not sure where this will lead to, but it's just part of the detail required to manage the overall cooling required for these cars.

You can just see how tightly everything is packaged. The red ellipse shows the cover of the upper foreword side impact structure. By regulation, it has to be enclosed in the sidepod body surface. I also love the detail of the mirror mounts (in magenta). It's this sort of detail on these current cars that we couldn't even have imagined about 30 years ago.

I'm also quite interested to see what Audi has done with the area below the radiator inlet. Between it and the floor entry, there is significant height available to exploit. It may just be a surface that creates a larger stagnation point to allow the underfloor to pull as much airflow as required for varying ride height.

It's great to see something different, that said, it will be the stopwatch that confirms if it is just different or better.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/audi-2026-f1-upgrades-gary-anderson-verdict/

The first clues from F1 testing's most meaningful data

After the imposed secrecy of Formula 1's first 'shakedown' test of 2026 in Barcelona, the Bahrain test is providing no shortage of data to sink our teeth into.

The headline times have Lando Norris and the Mercedes-powered McLaren gaining an early edge, and the MCL40 is certainly not to be dismissed - but there's a lot more going on under the cover.

While McLaren - with first Oscar Piastri and then Norris - largely favoured shorter runs and did deliver an impressive time, some of its rivals were laser-focussed on pounding consecutive laps in the afternoon of the opening day.

And one rival in particular caught the eye.

In total, there were more than 30 runs you could reasonably classify as some semblance of a relevant long run - but a fair few of those were plainly off the pace, presumably used for basic engine testing or systems checks or anything of that nature rather than any meaningful performance running (especially in the earlier hours of the day).

Here are the 15 best long runs of the day by average laptime, with a long run being defined as having at least seven laps or more:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m37.663s, soft tyre for 7 laps
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m37.926s, S 10
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.072s, hard 9
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.371s, S 9*
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.587s, S 10*
6 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m38.637s, H 8
7 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m38.722s, S 9
8 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.880s, medium 10
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m38.903s, M 10
10 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m39.013s, S 9
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m39.399s, S 12*
12 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m39.765s, M 9
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m40.106s, S 21*
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi), 1m40.331s, M 12*
15 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m40.368s, S 7

*denotes runs where mid-run laptimes were discounted from the average due to being clear outliers

Red Bull with Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc dedicated the final two hours of the day to stint-running.

Mercedes sent out Kimi Antonelli in the final hour only, due to an issue with the car, but he too was doing long runs. There was another Antonelli run, in addition to the one listed above, that fell just short of our threshold for inclusion (over seven representative laptimes), but averaged out very similarly.

Verstappen's long runs, as much as they can be at this stage of testing, were particularly impressive. Across five stints on each of the available compounds (C3 soft, C2 medium, C1 hard), the Red Bull driver delivered extremely consistent laptimes and his averages never required any adjustment for 'throwaway' laps, because there were none.

Also out in the afternoon on an extensive long-running programme was Nico Hulkenberg in the Audi, undeterred by an early red flag-causing stoppage and logging a lot of laps, including in one particularly extensive soft-tyre stint of 21 laps (17 of them representative).

But what about the teams that aren't included above?

Racing Bulls logged several long runs in the morning, when the track was still clearly not in optimum shape and the car was presumably not being pushed all that hard. Its complete absence in the afternoon means there isn't even a hint of a real picture here.

Aston Martin was likewise a no-show after the midday break but had barely done any meaningful consecutive-lap running before then.

Haas dedicated itself to short runs in the afternoon. Esteban Ocon's most consistent earlier run averages out to a presumably meaningless 1m41.493s, though he also did a six-lap run that averaged out to 1m40.095s - by virtue of having two 1m38s laps, two 1m39s laps and two 1m41s laps. Disregard.

It's a similar story with Alpine, with Pierre Gasly's best run of six laps clocking in at 1m40.150s.

Williams did some tentative long runs with its car as it catches up after its shakedown absence. The best was a 1m40.900s with Alex Albon over seven laps on softs.

Cadillac had a handful of runs that resembled long-running, most notable a very gently encouraging 1m41.947s average across 10 laps (one discounted) with Valtteri Bottas in the first half of the day.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-first-clues-from-bahrain-f1-test-day-one-long-runs/

9 things we learned from day one of Bahrain F1 test

The opening day of F1's Bahrain test has already given us the deeper insight we've been waiting for – so here's everything we learned from the first proper day of watching 2026 F1 cars.

Mercedes' extraordinary Red Bull claim

Does F1 have a new early benchmark? That's what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insisted with a surprise declaration fuelled by his team's analysis of the initial long-run pace and GPS data.

According to Mercedes, strong energy deployment meant Max Verstappen's Red Bull was gaining about one second per lap on the straights - consistently.

That would be a massive advantage if repeated in races, and a huge achievement for Red Bull's brand new in-house engine programme.

But there remains some scepticism in the paddock about whether there are some politics at play here at a time when Mercedes' own performance is under the spotlight amid F1's ongoing compression ratio controversy.

And talk of any team being clearly ahead is not universal. McLaren chief designer Rob Marshall reckons the reality is that everyone is super close.

If Mercedes really is on the back foot against Red Bull, though, this was a sobering day for the early pre-season favourite given it had a first major setback itself.

Kimi Antonelli only managed 30 laps right at the end of the day because an issue believed to be on the car side, not engine, left him on the sidelines for most of the afternoon.

What the early data tells us

While it was McLaren's world champion Lando Norris who topped the times on Wednesday, Verstappen was a close second and was on a very quick-looking lap that faded in the final corners.

And the Red Bull's consistency and speed in Verstappen's hands went unmatched over stints of any meaningful length.

Verstappen ran each of the available tyres - the C1 hard, the C2 medium and the C3 soft - in bursts of around 10 laps. He ran a high-1m38s average on mediums earlier in the day, but averaged just under 1m38s on the hard later on - and was then comfortably in the 1m37s range on softs towards the end of running.

Perhaps most impressive was that all of these runs came with zero anomalous laps, by which we mean cooldown laps or anomalies from errors. That couldn't be said of Red Bull's rivals.

It's still early and the usual caveats about engine modes, fuel loads and energy deployment apply. And Charles Leclerc and Ferrari had a handful of solid 1m38s runs late on, while Mercedes was in the same ballpark once it eventually returned to the track with Antonelli after his problem.

But Red Bull certainly made a strong impression.

Why Max stands out trackside

From trackside, Verstappen also stood out for an aggressive downshifting technique linked to the new engine demands.

Most notably at Turn 10, typically a second-gear corner, Verstappen repeatedly downshifted to first while still heavily on the brakes, causing a sharp rise in revs and visible car instability.

His approach, usually involving rapid double downshifts in sequence, is aimed at maximising energy recovery under braking to better charge the more powerful 2026 MGU-K.

Red Bull was the first to deploy the tactic in Bahrain and did so the most consistently and effectively, with Verstappen comfortable in managing the destabilising effects on the car.

Audi tried similar methods but looked less settled, while interestingly the Ferrari and Mercedes-powered cars largely stuck to conventional techniques.

Though unlikely to be a silver bullet, it makes an interesting early differentiator – and a potential clue that Red Bull's targeted tolerance for more aggressive tactics in energy recovery.

Ferrari's car seems really difficult

After an encouraging start in the Barcelona test, the Ferrari looks far from the most stable car early on in Bahrain.

That doesn't mean it's bad by any means, but it suggests there's work to do.

That impression was supported by Lewis Hamilton. He talked about how complex driving these cars is generally, joking that you need a degree to understand them.

He also described the run into the tight Turn 10, the left hander leading onto the middle straight, where Hamilton had an off today, as the hardest that it's ever been here.

Now, this is a tricky corner thanks to the curved approach through Turn 9 and plenty of drivers had difficulty, but it seemed particularly difficult for Ferrari.

The car certainly appears responsive on turn-in, but all around the track it looked like a handful mid-corner.

Ferrari needs to turn that responsiveness into consistency to get the best out of the car.

Aston Martin and Honda troubles

Aston Martin only managed 65 laps during the whole Barcelona shakedown test, and its game of catch up in Bahrain didn't start well as Lance Stroll managed just 38 laps on Wednesday thanks to a Honda engine problem.

Honda described this as a result of a data anomaly which was detected and required further analysis ahead of a return to the track on Thursday.

There are still five days of testing remaining, but the clock is ticking and Aston Martin is now well behind in terms of distance covered with just 431 miles logged compared to the 2618 of Mercedes. Even Williams, which missed Barcelona entirely, is ahead owing to today only.

Fernando Alonso has already indicated that Aston Martin expects to start the season behind.

But based on the first day of running at Barcelona, it's still in the 'falling even more behind' phase. And that doesn't bode well.

Audi with a bold new design

Audi was the first team to run this year way back on January 9, and appropriately enough it's the first to introduce a big upgrade package - or at least, one that's very visually obvious.

It includes a change to the front wing, with a small turning vane added to the rear of the front wing endplate lower tunnel and a tweak to the top flap to make it more loaded inboard. This should help to induce greater outwash.

But what really caught the eye was the sidepod change. The previous, more letterbox-shaped inlet is replaced by a tall, narrow one as part of a major overhaul of the sidepods. That includes the move to a more aggressively downwashed top surface guiding airflow to the rear of the floor.

It's just the first salvo in what's set to be a fierce development war.

How the cars really sound

The few videos we were served of the cars from Barcelona offered a bit of a clue that the new engines sound quite different to before.

Hearing them in person the sound is always quite different to what comes through on television, and they are all subtly distinctive. We wouldn't go so far as to say they are drastically different from the previous generation of engine, but the absence of the MGU-H does make them sound less muffled. They are a bit more aggressive in some ways.

The Red Bull and the Audi sound the meanest although with Audi that is because it sounds a bit less refined. The Honda didn't come past enough to get a great read on it, but it sounds a little bit louder and more raw. By comparison, the Mercedes and the Ferrari engines seem kind of quiet and conventional - the closest to what came before.

There are also different sounds to get used to with the turbo seeming a bit more prominent, lower gears being used in a lot of corners, and more lift-and-coast and energy strategies down the straights resulting in the odd unusual noise. Practice starts appear to require more revving, too.

Williams is overweight, but it works

After deflecting rampant speculation over the winter about its car being overweight, Williams has admitted that it will need to get its FW48 on a bit of a diet over the first few races.

While claims about it missing the target by 20-30kg appear to have been on the extreme side, team boss James Vowles admitted that its official claim of being 772.4kg – just 4.4kg over the minimum weight – was just "a press pack figure"...

Although Vowles fell short of revealing what the car weight actually is, he has said that efforts will be made after the start of the season to shed some excess.

The early good news for Williams though is that having missed the first test, it has at least started to rack up the miles.

And that decent foundation means it can at least avoid being unprepared if there is performance being left on the table with the car itself.

More cars should have this design...

Shout out to the teams that have put their race numbers on the shark fin of the engine cover: Ferrari, Red Bull, Racing Bulls.

Watching trackside it's so much easier to identify these cars with the numbers plastered on the side. The Ferrari has white numbers on a red background, so it's particularly easy to spot.

The other teams have either got a blank section or used it for a little bit of a sponsor logo, which is a little bit of a shame, if unsurprising.

It'd be great if this could be mandatory, because you don't just have to have the car right in front of you, side on, to see the number – it's actually visible from quite far away and even at an angle.

So if you're watching from the grandstands at an F1 race, it's going to be easier to spot those cars. And that might seem insignificant, but visual identifiers matter especially as drivers aren't exactly easy to spot in these cars.

It's not a big thing. But it's a worthy, fan-friendly service, and was a notable aesthetic lesson from our first experience trackside.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/9-things-we-learned-from-day-one-of-bahrain-f1-test/

El "minuto a minuto" de la primera jornada de pruebas:


https://as.com/motor/formula_1/test-de-pretemporada-f1-en-bahrein-hoy-en-directo-resultados-y-clasificacion-de-alonso-y-sainz-en-vivo-f202602-d/