The big four, the midfield, and the teams with work to do ahead of the first F1 race of 2026

There was, as usual, plenty of excitement, plenty of intrigue, and even some vocal barbs being traded by rivals. 

 

Raceteq sifted through the noise to find the most salient quotes from sthe build-up to the 2026 F1 season. In no particular order, here’s how they stand.

 

Aston Martin has built up a formidable team, but it hit constant setbacks in pre-season testing. And that was after missing crucial track time in the preceding Barcelona shakedown.

 

The AMR26 completed just six laps on the final day of the Bahrain pre-season test after Honda released a statement that said a “battery-related issue” was impacting the team.

In total, Aston Martin completed just 1,808 kilometres of running in Bahrain; new team Cadillac completed 3,171km and is 10th in the distance charts.

Will McLaren defend its titles in 2026? That’s obviously impossible to predict before Australia, but, after a table-topping 4,422km in testing, the team has clearly got a reliable and compliant car to fight for points, podiums, and perhaps wins. 

 

Race starts - a new point of difference in 2026 given the new power units - weren’t generally as those of Ferrari, but Lando Norris leapt off the line well on the final day to show a huge improvement from the team.

 

There are some question marks over whether McLaren has optimised power delivery and recharge as well as Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari - but these four teams are in a league of their own.

 

“I think we’ve produced a good car,” said chief executive officer Zak Brown. “I think we’ll be in the big four - I don’t think we’re in the front of the big four, but it’s going to be a long season with a lot of development.”

Haas might be the smallest team in F1 given its resources but it is punching well above its weight thanks to a solid pre-season. 

 

Team principal Ayao Komatsu summed up his team’s pride when he said: “Of course it hasn’t been problem-free, but that’s pre-season testing, and the positive thing is we’re dealing with it in the right manner: understanding performance and actioning what we’ve learned.

 

“It was a huge effort to go from Fiorano [Italy], then running in Barcelona [Spain] two days later, then from that to come here to Bahrain and now to the final day of testing. 

 

“The real challenge starts now ahead of the first race in Melbourne, but as a team, especially being the smallest team, I think we can be proud of ourselves and how we got here.”

 

Mercedes seemed to be the team on top after the Barcelona shakedown, and this team might well be the one to beat going into the first race at Melbourne. Having aced race simulations on week one in Bahrain, its race pace wasn’t so clear in week two.

 

A power unit issue also cost Mercedes running on the final day in Bahrain, and Mercedes encountered small problems throughout. 

 

“Despite that though, we did a good job of getting the car out relatively early in the afternoon and overall, we were able to complete a lot of useful work with both drivers,” said trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. 

 

George Russell added: “There are positives to take - the car is feeling good, the new power units are feeling fast and we’re making improvements every single day. However, we need to keep on improving the reliability.”

Few expect Cadillac to be fighting for points as soon as the lights go out in Australia - that would be a lot to ask. 

 

So as the newest team on the F1 grid, it was to be expected that they encountered a few issues. Car sensor issues limited drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez as late as the second test, and the team was second-last on the distance table with 3,171km completed in testing.

 

Yet, as the newest team on the grid, it has already climbed a tall mountain. And this is as good a start as it could have hoped for, even if points are a stretch.

 

“We’re up against teams who have been doing this for a very, very long time,” said team principal Graeme Lowdon. 

 

“I would say, to sum it up, extremely happy with the team, very, very happy with the platform that we’re building, and can’t wait for Melbourne.”

 

Things are looking up at Ferrari, whose driver Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap of the whole test on the final day. 

 

A smattering of upgrades hit the track over the six days in Bahrain (including a startling ‘upside-down’ rear wing) and the Ferrari engine seems formidable. It might not be the fastest team of them all in race pace, but Ferrari’s race starts could put it at the very front if others falter. 

 

Those upgrades mean Ferrari has already begun carrying out its development plan.

 

Team Principal Fred Vasseur said: “I don’t want to say it doesn’t matter, the result of Melbourne, because I prefer to have a good result than a bad one, but at the end of the day I know the development will be so huge during the season that the most important [element] is the capacity of the team to develop; the capacity of the team to bring parts quickly - much more than the performance of race one.”

 

Audi’s evolved car turned heads in Bahrain thanks to its vertical sidepod inlets, and the team’s engine was reliable. Points therefore, aren’t out of the question for early in the season, although it will be close against Haas and Alpine. 

 

As a new engine manufacturer that has combined with the chassis builder formerly known as Sauber, Audi has a lot to be happy about, as team principal Jonathan Wheatley said in Bahrain.

 

“I think people focus a lot on the car when it comes to testing. We’re testing everything when we come here: your air freight systems, logistics, getting people backwards and forwards, the operation in the garage, the communication to the driver, from the driver, between the team, your run plans…

 

“It’s a big challenge, and it shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Some minor power unit problems hit Red Bull in the first Bahrain test, but it bounced back. Trackside, the car looked compliant, particularly with Max Verstappen at the wheel, and its Ford-branded power unit looks more formidable than those of Honda and Audi. 

 

“In general, Red Bull Ford Powertrains has done a remarkable job as a start-up; in three-and-a-half years, we have created a power unit and have it out running on track, which is fantastic,” said technical director Pierre Wache.

 

Will Red Bull be able to compete against Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren? 

 

Team principal Laurent Mekies said: “We are unfortunately not the benchmark. We have very high confidence that we are probably trailing the group. 

 

“The fight ahead is going to be massive, and it will take us a lot of time to reach the level we want to reach.”

The most striking statistic from Racing Bulls’s pre-season test was rookie Arvid Lindblad’s record-breaking 165-lap distance on the final day in Bahrain - the most completed laps ever recorded in a testing day.

 

It didn’t look the fastest of the midfield, however, and Racing Bulls will have strong competition for points.

 

"We’ve had a very positive three days here in Bahrain,” said team principal Alan Permane after the test. “Last week was productive and this week has been even better. We’ve learned a lot about the car and the power unit, both of which have run reliably all week.”

 

“We’ve had a few minor issues, but nothing that will affect us once we get to Melbourne. Liam [Lawson] and Arvid [Lindblad] are quickly finding more performance and getting comfortable with the car.”

The Enstone, UK-based team isn’t the fastest Mercedes-powered team in 2026 but Alpine isn’t the slowest - nor is it the slowest of the midfield.

 

It has had a decent pre-season test in both reliability and pace, and there is a feeling that Alpine might be able to score points far more regularly than it did in 2025.

 

“We have a reasonable package and a good baseline to work from, at least for the first few races of the season,” said the team’s managing director Steve Nielsen. 

 

“Pierre [Gasly] and Franco [Colapinto] have done a great job in executing run plans and giving us plenty of data to assess, so credit to them for their continued efforts.”

 

Williams switched focus on developing its 2026 F1 car early in 2025 but it doesn’t look to have hit the ground running this season. 

 

It missed the Barcelona shakedown ahead of Bahrain testing and that, according to driver Alex Albon, appeared to have hurt the team.

 

“Obviously when you miss three days of testing, in a new regulations set, you are going to be [hampered],” he said. 

 

“We learned a lot, we did good mileage on week one of Bahrain. This [second] week was a bit more performance-oriented. 

 

“We are not, maybe, where we want to be; we won’t get [those] days back,” he said.

 

Reliability doesn't seem to be a serious problem; Williams sits third in the Bahrain distance charts on 4,275km. Heading to Australia, it does sit in a competitive midfield scrum of teams vying for points.