Author: Giles Richards

• Italian takes advantage of Mercedes teammate’s technical trouble

• Lewis Hamilton third in qualifying and sprint race for Ferrari

There was an inescapable sense of joy and satisfaction for Kimi Antonelli as he became the youngest pole sitter in Formula One history. Tellingly, there was an air of vindication from his Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff, as the teenage protege came good when it mattered by claiming the top spot for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian took pole by beating his older and more experienced teammate George Russell into second, albeit after the Briton endured a technical problem in Q3 and had time to set only one quick lap.

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George Russell and Kimi Antonelli took a one-two win in Australia and team’s ability to master dark art of energy management is paying off

As Formula One grapples with its new, controversial regulations, there is consensus at least that Mercedes are expected to be on top once more in the second race of the season on Sunday in Shanghai. The team have a fearsome car but most importantly in a formula dominated by the engine, appear to have also stolen a march in optimising the dark art of energy management.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli claimed a one-two at the opening round in Australia last weekend. In qualifying Russell was eight-tenths quicker than Mercedes’ nearest rival, the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and in the grand prix itself finished 15 seconds in front of third-placed Charles Leclerc having eased up in the final third of the race.

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• Verstappen describes Red Bull as ‘undriveable’ on radio

• Bahrain and Saudi GP decision due after China race

George Russell laid down a further marker as the man to beat in the new Formula One season with a dominant run in qualifying to claim pole for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. He sealed another front row lockout alongside Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli with Russell finishing more than half a second clear of their nearest rival.

The first sprint weekend under the new regulations is a journey into the unknown for teams and drivers and they had only the single hour of practice to understand how best to optimise their cars for energy deployment before qualifying.

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• ‘I don’t enjoy the car but I do enjoy working with the team’

• Meeting with drivers brought forward amid disquiet

Max Verstappen has once more expressed his discontent with the new Formula One regulations. Amid a clamour of unhappiness from many drivers, the four-time champion also reiterated his warning that he would leave the sport if he ceased to enjoy it, which is clearly the case at the moment.

After the first round of the season in Melbourne last week, Verstappen showed disdain for how the new rules had affected driving, and speaking before this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, he belittled the new formula with another reference to the videogame Mario Kart, which has swiftly become a go-to reference across the grid. A drivers’ meeting to discuss the new regulations, originally planned for after the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of the month, has now been brought forward to take place after this weekend’s race, the Guardian understands.

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Get to grips with active aero, boost mode and super-clipping as the adoption of new hybrid engines shakes up the sport before the new season begins next weekend

In a week’s time, a new era will begin in Formula One as a major shift in regulations brings with it an air of unpredictability when the Australian Grand Prix gets under way in Melbourne.

The cars have been made smaller and lighter with the intent of making them more nimble, better to drive and to facilitate improved racing. The wheelbase has been reduced by 20cm to 340cm and the width by 10cm to 190cm. Across changes in the chassis and to the engine, the overall weight has been reduced by 30kg. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton have declared themselves generally pleased with the improved handling characteristics of the more sprightly rides, which will operate with approximately 40% less drag, but they will not enjoy the same downforce or the same pace as last year’s models and are expected to open the season around one to two seconds a lap off last year’s times.

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Briton overcame crippling self-doubt to become F1 world champion and is determined not to relinquish his crown

Lando Norris recalls being rendered speechless with joy when he was given his first contract with McLaren. Sitting in the cramped office of a paddock truck, the confirmation that he had made it to Formula One left him “very smiley for a long time”. Seven years on, he enters the new season having achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming world champion and is wearing an equally irrepressible grin as he sets about defending his title.

Claiming the championship after a monumental season-long tussle that went to a thrilling three-way fight at the finale in Abu Dhabi was the defining moment of the 26-year-old’s career and perhaps something of a turning point.

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• Dutchman joins Lewis Hamilton in criticism of new cars

• Champion Lando Norris says changes are a ‘lot of fun’

Driver disquiet over the new Formula One regulations marked the second pre-season test which concluded in Bahrain this week, with world champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen delivering damning verdicts on driving the new cars, while in competitive terms leading contenders Mercedes and Red Bull were entertainingly vehement in each declaring the other as favourite.

Times in testing must be taken with a liberal amount of salt, more so this year as so much time is being put into understanding the new cars and how best to drive them, without yet really pushing toward real performance limits. Nonetheless, across the three days in Bahrain it was Mercedes who finished on top with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell setting the quickest times, from the two Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth for McLaren and Verstappen in seventh for Red Bull.

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• Power management regulations will be hard to explain

• Hamilton: ‘You need a degree to fully understand it all’

Lewis Hamilton has issued a striking warning that fans may struggle to understand Formula One’s new regulations for the 2026 season, branding them “ridiculously complex” after having spun while testing his new Ferrari in Bahrain.

Hamilton was speaking at the second pre-season test where the teams are coming to terms with cars and engines that have been subject to what amounts to the biggest single shake-up in the sport’s history, and specifically to how drivers are expected to manage the power of their engines which are now defined by a near 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power.

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• ‘My motivation to win is exactly the same,’ says champion

• McLaren driver admires rival Verstappen’s killer instinct

Lando Norris insists he enters the new Formula One season highly motivated to retain the world championship he won for the first time last year. The McLaren driver believes his maiden triumph has only given him greater confidence in his ability to defend the title.

Norris won the championship after an intense competition that went to the wire. After a three-way fight with his teammate, Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Norris sealed the title by just two points at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

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• Mercedes principal insists their new car is within rules

• ‘Other teams are finding excuses before they have started’

Toto Wolff has dismissed claims from rival teams over the legality of Mercedes’ new engine, insisting it is within the regulations. The Mercedes team principal said that the onus lay with the other manufacturers who had missed an opportunity and that they should get their “shit together”.

The row over whether Mercedes and Red Bull have stolen a march on the opposition in their engine design has dominated the buildup to the new season and Wolff notably did not rule out other teams protesting against the legality of their engines after they are used competitively for the first time at the Australian Grand Prix on 8 March.

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• Silver arrows finish 500 laps, well clear of all their rivals

• Fears around new engines and regulations unfounded

Fears the swathe of new regulations and entirely new engines might be problematic on their first outing proved unfounded, after Formula One’s first pre-season test concluded in Barcelona on Friday. Mercedes put in an almost bulletproof performance in distance and reliability while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton grabbed the quickest lap of the week.

Held behind closed doors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it is believed at least partly to minimise attention on the potential negative impressions of the new formula that might be formed by new engines going bang and cars struggling on track, as happened when turbo-hybrid engines were introduced in 2012, the running was overwhelmingly positive given the challenge of the biggest regulation change of the modern era.

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• AMR26 car will not run until Thursday and Friday

• Williams unable to take to the track at all in Spain

The Aston Martin team have admitted they are to miss at least one day of their allotted three at Formula One’s first pre-season test in Barcelona and will not run their car before Thursday at the earliest. They are the second team to fail to take full advantage of the opening test after Williams also announced they would be unable to take to the track at all in Spain.

Testing is taking place from Monday to Friday this week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with teams able to use three of the five days to assess their cars. They have been designed to entirely new regulations and with new engines this season and consequently three full pre-season tests are being held. But as the track running began, Aston Martin conceded they would not be there at the off and issued a statement.

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• Ferrari unveil 2026 car amid regulation reset

• Williams not ready and will miss next week’s first test

Lewis Hamilton has emphasised the scale of the challenge facing drivers and teams as Formula One enters a new season with a regulation reset which the British driver described as the biggest of his career, as his Ferrari team look to a new start after a disappointing 2025.

The Scuderia launched their new car, the SF-26, with Hamilton driving it at the team’s test track at Fiorano for the first time on Friday. He was optimistic, having been involved in the development of a Ferrari for the first time but acknowledged that a huge task lay ahead.

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• Policy allowed Max Verstappen back into 2025 title race

• Team due to unveil new car in Bahrain on 9 February

McLaren will continue pursuing a policy of rigorous fairness towards Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the 2026 Formula One season, despite their insistence on not imposing team orders almost costing Norris his world title by allowing a late challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Last year McLaren enjoyed the most competitive car for most of the season and insisted their drivers would be free to race one another, applying their “papaya rules”.

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Compression ratios will be at the top of the FIA’s agenda in a meeting with F1 teams to head off growing fears before the 2026 season gets underway

Unveiling their new engine in Tokyo should have been a significant moment for Honda to celebrate but behind the scenes, the storied grand prix team – as well as plenty of their Formula One rivals – are worried that a looming row over new engine regulations is threatening to overshadow the opening of the 2026 season.

So significant is the concern that it will be the key topic of discussion at a meeting between the FIA and the engine manufacturers set for Thursday before the first day of pre-season testing at Barcelona.

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