Ferrari topped the timesheets as Formula 1’s pre-season testing got underway last week in Barcelona, with Lewis Hamilton setting a 1:16.3 on the final day to edge out teammate George Russell for the top spot on the overall leaderboard. Despite the headline times, teams throughout the pit lane emphasized that lap times remain largely meaningless at this early stage of testing.
This is a long-standing tradition during winter testing, but it takes on particular significance this year given the extensive technical and aerodynamic rule changes. Drivers have had to adjust to new car technologies, while teams focus on ensuring reliability and understanding how their 2026 machines handle in different conditions.
Testing continues with six additional days scheduled in Bahrain before the end of the month. By the conclusion of the pre-season programme, teams are expected to gradually reveal their true pace during qualifying simulations and longer-run assessments.
Damon Hill warns Ferrari are under pressure to deliver fast times
On The Race’s Stay on Track podcast, former F1 world champion Damon Hill suggested that Ferrari are prone to producing so-called “glory runs” during testing. Hill explained that the team feels intense pressure to post fast lap times, even if rivals are not pushing their cars to the limit. He compared Ferrari’s behaviour to his experiences with two of his former midfield teams, Arrows and Jordan, where similar efforts to impress sponsors often backfired.
Hill recalled that Ferrari had set the second-fastest lap during F1 pre-season testing the previous year, only for the team to qualify on the fourth row for the opening race in Australia, illustrating that fast testing laps do not always translate into race pace. He also referenced instances where Williams had been accused of “fuel tank gimmicks” to please sponsors, such as emptying Carlos Sainz’s tank to temporarily climb the timesheets, a tactic he described as “utterly pointless.”
According to Hill, teams often engage in these practices to satisfy sponsor demands, aiming to generate positive headlines and media attention. He noted that while Ferrari appear especially susceptible to this kind of pressure, Red Bull, by contrast, manage their testing programmes more discreetly, deliberately keeping their full pace hidden from competitors and the public.
Barcelona testing results: reliability over headline times
Over three days in Barcelona, Ferrari completed 440 laps, second only to Mercedes in terms of mileage. For now, completing laps and gathering consistent data is more valuable than achieving top times. Technical insight from former drivers, such as Juan Pablo Montoya, suggests that Mercedes could still improve by up to four seconds on their lap times from last week, highlighting the uncertainty over which teams have significant performance in reserve.
F1 technical expert Gary Anderson raised concerns that Ferrari may be taking a conservative approach with their chassis, prioritizing safety and stability over outright speed. This cautious strategy is understandable in light of last year’s ride-height issues, but it could mean the team is holding back potential performance. On the power unit side, Ferrari are reportedly focused on energy management, a critical factor for the 2026 season, which they are analyzing closely based on the Barcelona testing data.
Overall, pre-season testing remains a controlled environment for teams to identify potential weaknesses, fine-tune energy and aerodynamic performance, and prepare for competitive racing. Hill’s critique of Ferrari emphasizes that, despite the allure of fast laps and sponsor visibility, strategic testing should prioritize understanding the car rather than chasing meaningless glory runs.
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