F1 2026: Who is the fastest? The new rules confuse and divide.

Formula 1 in the 2026 Era: A Beginning Full of Uncertainty

The new era of Formula 1 would always generate questions, but the first week of serious testing has unleashed more doubts than expected. Pre-season testing in Bahrain has shown flashes of performance and a large amount of data, but few clear answers about how the new landscape of the sport is really taking shape. On the track, the stopwatch has told a changing story, with teams appearing fast at different times and without a clear reference point in the midst of a game of mirages. Uncertainty extends off the track, with drivers who are not impressed and tension behind the scenes. Technical interpretations, competitive suspicions, and safety concerns have arisen as the paddock tries to define the limits of the new rules. With one more test ahead, the situation in Sakhir is fascinating.

Who’s the Fastest? A Complex Puzzle

Lap times in pre-season testing are often misleading, but this year’s competitive situation has been further complicated by the new power unit regulations and, increasingly, by a degree of politics at play. When asked who has the fastest package, Mercedes replies that Red Bull does. Red Bull, for its part, says they are fourth, behind Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. Ferrari points to Red Bull and Mercedes as the teams ahead, while McLaren, the world champions, are convinced that their three aforementioned rivals have an advantage. On paper, the latest generation of F1 power units is remarkable, capable of producing three times more electrical energy than their predecessors and collecting twice as much energy per lap. However, in reality, this means that they spend most of the lap without energy, which implies that simply pushing to the limit is no longer a guaranteed route to achieving the fastest lap time, as the battery will soon run out.

It’s ridiculously complex. You need a title to fully understand it.

Lewis Hamilton

James Vowles, Williams team principal, summarized the situation concisely:

In a braking zone, you can almost fill the battery, but on a straight, you can deplete the entire battery.

James Vowles

Therefore, “energy management” became the main topic in Bahrain this week. The more efficiently energy can be harvested around the turn when braking and in the curves, the more will be available to spend on the straights and the faster the final lap time will be. This may mean that the drivers no longer push themselves to the limit in the curves, knowing that sacrificing a little time there will come with the benefit of gaining more time on the straights. Deciphering the best way to balance that equation, especially for a single flying lap, has been a steep learning curve for the teams this week, resulting in a rapidly changing picture of who is really the fastest. Mercedes insists that Red Bull, which is using its own power unit for the first time, has found a way to deploy more energy on certain straights than any other team, with team boss Toto Wolff and George Russell claiming that the advantage their rivals have found is worth up to a second per lap.

They are not just a small step ahead. You’re talking about half a second to a second in deployment over the course of a lap, so it’s quite terrifying to see that difference.

George Russell

Lando Norris, from McLaren, whose car is also powered by a Mercedes engine, added:

When someone has a deployment advantage, it’s a beautiful amount of time per lap in your pocket. Without trying, you can go faster.

Lando Norris

However, when asked Red Bull’s technical director, Pierre Wache, if he feels his team is the benchmark, he points to their rivals:

We are not the benchmark, for sure. We clearly see the top three teams as Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. They are ahead of us according to our analysis, and we are behind.

Pierre Wache

Far from the top four teams, and underlining the opinion that the competitive situation is constantly evolving, Alpine’s managing director, Steve Nielsen, stated that their data has shown that the different power unit manufacturers seem to be the strongest almost daily.

Honestly, if I had been asked that in Barcelona [in the first test], I probably would have said that Mercedes is above the rest. If I had been asked that on Wednesday [in Bahrain], I probably would have said that Red Bull is the benchmark. If I had been asked yesterday [Thursday], I would have said ‘wow, you want to see Ferrari’s long run’.

Steve Nielsen

Nielsen also highlighted that all teams will have learned from each other during the week by analyzing the different approaches to deploying energy around the lap and will likely converge towards the best solutions as a result.

I mean, we’re all shameless plagiarists. We’ll look at anything that anyone else might do on the track, off the track, and if we like it, we’ll steal it. And looking at their speeds, cornering speeds, how they deploy, all of that. We’re all doing it.

Steve Nielsen

Combining these different approaches to energy deployment with all the usual caveats of testing, such as fuel loads and different track conditions, trying to read anything meaningful into lap times is a kind of futile task. Some long run data from Friday suggested that Mercedes and Ferrari had an advantage over McLaren, but it’s just a small snapshot of a much wider picture that will likely change again when testing resumes in Bahrain next week.

Is it Still F1? The Drivers’ Perspective

If the new regulations are proving confusing for observers, the feelings from within the cabins are clearer. Max Verstappen has been forceful:

As a pure racer, I enjoy driving flat out. And, at the moment, you can’t drive like that. There’s a lot going on.

Max Verstappen

The Dutch driver added:

Much of what you do as a driver, in terms of inputs, has a massive effect on the energy side. For me, that’s not Formula 1. Maybe it’s better to drive Formula E, right? Because it’s all about efficiency and energy management. That’s what they represent. Driving, it’s not that fun.Max Verstappen

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Norris, possibly because he was quoted Verstappen’s negative statements and felt the need to counter them, highlighted the challenge presented by the new regulations.

It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun challenge for the engineers, for the drivers. It’s different, you have to drive it in a different way and understand things in a different way and manage things in a different way.

Lando Norris

Although not all drivers sided with one of the extremes put forward by Norris and Verstappen, everyone seemed to agree that the 2026 regulations were certainly “different”. Just by standing on the track, there are two quite big changes in driving style that are visible and audible. Some drivers (though notably not those with Ferrari engines) are shifting to first gear in the three slowest corners of Bahrain: turns 1, 8, and 10. By engaging first gear, the engine revs much higher than in second or third, which helps charge the battery and, at the same time, keeps the turbo spinning at a higher speed to give optimal boost pressure at the exit of the corner and avoid a phenomenon known as turbo-lag.

Russell explained:

I think the only challenge we face is the use of very low gears in the corners, so, for example, here in Bahrain, normally the first corner is a third gear corner. In the previous generation, now we have to use first gear to keep the engine, the revs very high to keep the turbo spinning, this is probably the only thing that is quite annoying and not so intuitive.

George Russell

Another obvious change is slower speeds in fast corners. In some cases, there is little to be gained by deploying battery energy in high-speed corners, so it makes more sense to lift slightly off the accelerator. Fernando Alonso, who has been competing in Bahrain since it joined the calendar in 2004, said that he has changed the approach to the high-speed Turn 12 from the cockpit of his Aston Martin.

Here in Bahrain, historically it has been turn 12 that is a very challenging corner. Therefore, you used to choose your level of aerodynamic load to go through turn 12 flat out, and then you would remove the aerodynamic load until you were at turn 12 flat out with new tires. So then it was the driver’s skill that was the decisive factor in going fast in a lap time. Now, in turn 12 we are going 50 km/h slower because we don’t want to waste energy there and we want to have it all on the straights. So to do turn 12 instead of going at 260 km/h, we go at 200 km/h, even our chef [in Aston Martin hospitality] can drive the car in turn 12 at that speed. But you don’t want to waste energy because you want to have it on the straights. So I understand Max’s comments because as a driver you would like to make a difference in the corner, driving those 5 km/h faster than the others, but now you are dictated by how much energy your engine will have on the next straight.

Fernando Alonso

It should be noted that the telemetry data showed that Alonso was taking more speed in turn 12 than his rivals and then needed to lift off the accelerator while the others remained flat out, but the point of taking slower speeds in the faster corners still stands.

Power Politics: A New Element

With the added complication of the new rules, a significant amount of paranoia has arisen among the teams about what their rivals are doing. Ahead of this week’s test, Mercedes’ interpretation of the rules regarding the engine compression ratio was a key topic and was not resolved at the end of the three days. The controversy centers on the reduction of the compression ratio from 18:1 in 2025 to 16:1 this year to facilitate the competition of new power unit manufacturers in the sport. The regulations state that the compression ratio will be measured at ambient temperatures, and it appears that Mercedes has found a way to comply with the test when the engine is cold, but achieves a higher compression ratio, and therefore greater power, when the engine is hot. The FIA has declared its intention to “resolve” the problem before the first race of the season and prevent the situation from going to the stewards or being decided in the courts. One possibility is to change the rules so that the 16:1 compression ratio limit is explicitly applied when the engine is hot, but to push for the change would require the support of the FIA, the FOM, and all rivals of Mercedes’ power units. There is a feeling among rivals that Mercedes has been hiding its true performance in testing to prevent the FIA and FOM from siding with the German manufacturer.

Mercedes is showing very impressive things, sometimes, but I would say they are hiding much more. I would expect them to be especially a bit ahead of us.

Charles Leclerc

Verstappen pointed more directly to Wolff’s statement that Red Bull has the benchmark power unit:

For me personally, they are more distraction tactics. But that’s okay. I mean, I’m focusing on what we’re doing here with the team. Because, honestly, for us, there’s still a lot to learn. This new set of rules is so complex that we just want to do our laps and just go from there, to be honest.

Max Verstappen

Wolff claims that any advantage is only worth “a couple” of horsepower and maintains that the FIA was kept informed throughout the engine’s development. A change in the rules will be needed before the imminent engine homologation deadline of March 1st, and it is still unclear what it would mean for Mercedes and its three engine customers, McLaren, Alpine and Williams. Another topic under debate before the inaugural race in Australia focuses on race starts. Following multiple practice starts by the drivers this week in Bahrain, it became clear how difficult it will be to make a clean start using the new power units. Until the car exceeds 50 km/h, regulations state that the power unit cannot deploy any of its electric boost, meaning the initial start depends entirely on the V6 turbo engine. Under the previous set of regulations, an element of the power unit’s hybrid system, known as the MGU-H, was used to spool up the turbo to provide optimal boost pressure for the start, but the MGU-H was eliminated as part of the changes to the power unit this year. As a result, the V6 engine now needs to be revved beforehand to increase boost pressure and minimize a phenomenon common in turbocharged engines known as turbo-lag. During practice starts in Bahrain, it could be observed that the cars accelerated hard for more than ten seconds to increase turbo boost before finally taking off. There is a belief that the current starting procedure, which sees five red lights illuminated at one-second intervals before the five go out and the race begins, will not provide enough time for the drivers arriving at the back of the grid to prepare their turbo in time for a clean start. The concern is that a significant variation in the output qualities above and below the grid could cause collisions.

We need to make sure that the race start procedure allows all cars to have the power unit ready to go because the grid is not the place where you want cars to be slow in getting off the grid. This is of greater interest than any competitive interest. I think all the teams and the FIA should play the game of responsibility when it comes to what is needed in terms of the race start procedure. I am thinking about the times, for example, the timing of the lights, the time before the lights. They need to be in the right place to make sure that, first of all, it is a safe phase of the way we race.

Andrea Stella

The problem is further complicated, as it is believed that Ferrari has opted for a smaller turbocharger to combat turbo-lag. In short, there will be much more at stake in the final pre-season test than the relatively simple question of who has the fastest car.