Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur expects Formulation 1 groups to introduce B-spec automobiles on the official pre-season checks in Bahrain subsequent yr, following January’s shakedown in Barcelona.
New aerodynamic and energy unit rules make the 2026 automobiles a major departure from their predecessors, and have led to a late-January five-day take a look at in Spain to first run the brand new designs. Much like 2014, the primary focus can be on reliability at that stage earlier than two pre-season checks in Bahrain that Vasseur believes will see two several types of automobile used forward of the opening race.
“I feel sure, all people will do it,” Vasseur mentioned. “However on this state of affairs, crucial is to get mileage. It is to not chase efficiency, it is to get mileage, to validate the technical alternative of the automobile, after which to get efficiency. I feel all people will are available in Barcelona with not the actual automobile, however a ‘spec A.’”
With Ferrari launching its new automobile on January 23 subsequent yr, Vasseur says the Barcelona working will enable groups to uncover any potential main points that want addressing, because the Bahrain checks will probably be too near the primary spherical in Melbourne to take action.
“It is true that we aren’t used to having 9 take a look at days anymore,” he mentioned. “The final 4 or 5 seasons, we did three. It is a bonus, however it’s additionally a totally totally different program. It implies that the primary goal for this sort of season is to get reliability.
“You bear in mind completely the season 10 or 15 years in the past, the primary races you had an enormous share of DNFs. It implies that first, we have to get mileage. Additionally what we need to keep away from in comparison with 2025 is that once we had been misplaced at the start of the season with the disqualification [in China]. We misplaced mileage, we misplaced reference, after which you might be [chasing] after this. It is a lengthy course of.
“The primary focus in Barcelona, we have to get mileage for the automobile, to know the truth of the automobile, the place we have now to enhance or on what we have now to react. As a result of if we need to have one thing for Bahrain T02, we cannot have time to react for Australia. The primary goal – the promotional day no, however Barcelona – can be for positive to get mileage greater than pure efficiency.”
