Five winners and three losers from F1 2026 pre-season testing

Three weeks of Formula 1 pre-season testing for the upcoming 2026 campaign have concluded and all that’s left to do is go racing in Australia. 

But who is going into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on a high, and who is on the back foot with work to do? 

Here are our biggest winners and losers from F1 2026 pre-season testing…

Winner - Mercedes 

The overriding feeling in the F1 paddock is that Mercedes is back and ready to live up to the pre-season favourites tag many bestowed upon it before a wheel was even turned. 

Mercedes did not end up fastest in pre-season testing but headline lap times can be deceiving, and do not always provide an accurate picture of the competitive order. 

The Silver Arrows did suffer from some reliability concerns but otherwise enjoyed a strong few weeks of testing, racking up the most mileage of any team. Mercedes also came away from pre-season with the most data about its new power unit, thanks to the work done by its three customer teams. 

Mercedes’ engine is tipped to be the class of the field in 2026, and many of the German manufacturer’s rivals suspect it is holding back a significant amount of pace ahead of the new season amid an F1 engine row over compression ratio limits. 

Max Verstappen went as far as to accuse Mercedes of sandbagging and deliberately attempting to divert attention by casting Red Bull in the role of favourites. 

Loser - Aston Martin 

It has been a horrible pre-season for Aston Martin. The combination of F1 design legend Adrian Newey, an exclusive Honda engine supply, and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was full of promise, but 2026 has got off to a nightmare start. 

Aston Martin rocked up to pre-season late and when its highly-rated AMR26 challenger finally hit the track, it soon broke down. This was to be a theme of the winter, with the new Aston Martin spending most of its time behind screens in the garage. 

Honda is lagging well behind its power unit rivals in terms of performance and there are serious reliability concerns. These issues were the main reason Aston Martin completed the fewest miles in testing. 

Newey’s first Aston Martin is badly off the pace and looks a real handful to drive. The Silverstone-based squad appears at real risk of starting the 2026 season at the very back of the field, potentially even behind Cadillac. 

Winner - Ferrari 

Ferrari grabbed attention in several ways during pre-season testing. It ended up fastest at both the Barcelona and Bahrain tests, with Charles Leclerc setting a searing pace with a series of eye-catching laps on the final day in Sakhir. 

From a performance standpoint, Ferrari impressed both on short and long runs, while the Scuderia’s near-bulletproof reliability was equally noteworthy. Lewis Hamilton lost vital lap time on the penultimate morning of pre-season, but otherwise Ferrari had no major problems and enjoyed flawless running with the SF-26, which looks a vast improvement on its predecessor. 

Intriguing technical innovations including a rotating rear wing and beam wing behind the exhaust caught the eye, while Ferrari might hold an advantage when it comes to race starts, thanks to its smaller turbo. 

Ferrari might not be as fast as Mercedes on outright pace, but its 2026 challenger should be in a position to fight for wins and podiums from the off this season. Decisions taken by Ferrari also mean the team shouldn’t be restricted when it comes to exploring development avenues throughout the season. 

There are encouraging signs to suggest Ferrari can put the immense disappointment of 2025 firmly behind them this year.

Loser - Williams 

It has not been a good winter for Williams. Williams massively overachieved by claiming a stunning fifth place in 2025 and targeted an even better 2026, having longed prioritised F1’s regulation reset as an opportunity to make serious moves up the competitive order. 

But based on pre-season, Williams are set to start the campaign on the back foot. The FW48 seems way off the pace over both short and long runs and is overweight, with the Grove-based outfit transparent in admitting it is not where it wants to be.

For a season that promised much, Williams has so far fallen short of expectations and looks to be towards the back of a congested and incredibly competitive midfield pack. 

Winner - Alpine 

Alpine’s decision to pull the plug on its 2025 development early doors in favour of F1’s new era of regulations looks to have paid off. 

Having hit rock-bottom as F1’s basement team last year, there was only one way Alpine could go in 2026. Even considering this, Alpine looks to have made the biggest jump of any team over the winter. 

There is genuine optimism that Alpine will be fighting towards the front of the midfield, if not the best of the rest behind F1’s big four teams, after a strong pre-season showing. 

A switch to Mercedes’ potentially class-leading engine will only further boost the mood at Alpine heading into the new campaign. 

Loser - Isack Hadjar 

It was not the smoothest of pre-seasons for Isack Hadjar as he began life in F1’s toughest job; being teammates Verstappen at Red Bull. 

First, Hadjar crashed his new Red Bull in wet conditions on the second day of F1 pre-season testing in Barcelona, which impacted the remainder of the team’s programme for the opening week of running. 

He then had a challenging couple of weeks in Bahrain, not through any fault of his own. Hadjar’s mileage across the six days was limited due to reliability issues which hampered him more than Verstappen, who racked up over 100 laps more than the 21-year-old Frenchman. 

Hadjar certainly didn’t get the rub of the green during pre-season and heads into the new season less prepared than he would have hoped for.

Winner - Haas

Haas enjoyed an impressive pre-season and look to be the team potentially heading the midfield along with Alpine. Although Alpine ended the second Bahrain test with a quicker time than Haas, Ollie Bearman’s effort was set on a harder compound of tyre. 

The VF-26 looked like a compliant and a solid car, while it demonstrated strong performance over both long and short runs, giving Haas cause for optimism heading to Australia. What’s more, Haas completed the third most laps of any team, totalling 404 across the two tests in Bahrain. 

Haas should be battling Alpine for best-of-the-rest spot and be in regular contention for the top-10 during the early rounds. 

Winner - Cadillac 

F1’s newcomers Cadillac will come away from its first pre-season rightfully happy after a respectable showing. 

The scale of the challenge Cadillac has overcome just to arrive on time for pre-season testing should not be overlooked. It may not have been a perfect pre-season but Cadillac always knew it would face some hurdles. 

Cadillac’s first-ever F1 car is seconds off the pace and there is plenty of scope for improvement, but it ran fairly reliably and gives the team a decent baseline to start from. 

The team look in better shape than Aston Martin and it would be a major achievement if Cadillac started anywhere higher than the back row in Melbourne.