MOTORSPORT – YESTERDAY’S season opener in Melbourne marked the start of a new era for F1, with one of the biggest overhauls in engine and car regulations that the sport has ever seen. In pre-season testing here in Bahrain, we caught a glimpse of what to expect from the new cars, but it was still a huge leap into the unknown for all teams and fans, with a lot of discovery still to come as drivers and engineers work to understand the new 2026 cars and engines.
What we did find out in Melbourne is which teams have the early advantage, based on who has the most (and least) understanding so far of how to maximize performance, manage reliability and drivers who could navigate the new F1 world of energy management. Perhaps the biggest learning from Australia was exactly that – the workings of the brand-new hybrid engines. The new engine regulations dictate that 50 per cent of the power now comes from the battery. That battery needs to be managed through recharging (for example when braking or lifting off the throttle early) and can be deployed through the use of the boost button, which can be used all at once or spread across the lap.
There is also overtake mode, which replaces the previous DRS system, which gives additional power if the car is within one second of the car in front. In short, the driver has a lot more to think about; when and how much to harvest energy, when, how much and where to deploy the boost, and so on. As is often the case with major technical changes, at first glance it sounds fairly complex, but as the race progressed you began to get an idea of what the practicalities of energy management means in race terms.
Coming into the race weekend, the whispers during testing in the Bahrain paddock was that Mercedes was quick, with some even saying they had the potential to be up to one second a lap faster. When the true test came in qualifying on Saturday at Albert Park, it wasn’t quite a full second, but the dominance in overall performance was there to see. Russell put his car on pole, with teammate Kimi Antonelli 0.3 seconds adrift. There was then a full half second to Red Bull’s Hadjar in third, followed by Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Hamilton.
As for the other Red Bull of Verstappen, he crashed out and would start from the back. That wasn’t the only pre-race incident to impact the starting grid as Oscar Piastri, the home hero, crashed into the wall on his warmup lap on the way to the grid, much to the heartbreak of the local fans.
The initial impact of the new regulations for racing, and particularly overtaking, was clear from the very start of the race. The battle at the front between George Russell and Charles Leclerc was electric, with the lead changing hands at least four times in as many laps. Whilst the race settled down after that as the Mercedes superiority came to the fore, it gave a glimpse of what we can expect under these rules. We can expect a lot of overtaking and close battles, which is a great sign for fans.
Once Russell was clear from early contests, his well-timed pit stops making use of a virtual safety car, and the overall superiority of the Mercedes car and engine, meant he was able to develop a commanding lead that rarely looked in doubt. To back that up, Kimi Antonelli showed impressive maturity to finish less than three seconds adrift in second in the other Mercedes.
The Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Hamilton seem to be the closest challengers to Mercedes, but even then, Leclerc, who finished third, was over fifteen seconds adrift form the Silver Arrows, with Hamilton a further 16 seconds further back. Behind these front four, Mclaren and Red Bull appeared to be fairly closely matched. Norris held off a late charge from Verstappen to finish fifth, but perhaps that could have been a different story had Verstappen avoided his accident in qualifying. It’s worth noting that these two finished almost a minute behind the leaders, meaning both teams have a fair bit of catching up to do over the coming weeks.
At the other end of the timesheet was Aston Martin. They had well-documented issues here in testing and it seemed there was no short-term fix in the time until Australia. The engine issue they are facing with Honda is understood to be the major priority that they are working on together and it remains to be seen how long that will take to resolve. Cadillac, in it’s first ever race, would have taking some comfort from their first outing. It’s hard to underestimate quite how difficult entering a new team into F1 is, building a whole new team and designing a car from scratch. Perez managing to complete the full race distance and an achievement to successfully qualify both cars will be a positive platform to build from in the long-term.
Either side of this, the midfield had some notable performers, with Racing Bulls, Audi and Hass all showing signs of encouragement. Audi in particular, starting the new season having taken over the Sauber team, will have been delighted to finish in the points with Bortoleto crossing the line in ninth.
Whilst, on the face of it, the results in Australia may seem like Mercedes are set to run away from the pack this season, the ability for chasing teams to catch up in the early days of a rules change is well known based on previous cycles. Over the coming weeks, teams will develop and upgrade cars with much momentum. At the same time, drivers will continue to adapt their craft to the new style of energy management, whilst as fans we will continue to get up to speed with the new era of F1. If the season continues to develop from what we have seen in Australia, the future looks very bright indeed for racing.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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