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Racing Bulls recall 'nightmare' in Arvid Lindblad protection plan
racingnews365.com·

Racing Bulls recall 'nightmare' in Arvid Lindblad protection plan

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has recalled how the outfit handled Isack Hadjar’s Australian Grand Prix "nightmare" last year, in its plan to protect and support Arvid Lindblad. At just 18 years old, Lindblad finds himself on the 2026 Formula 1 grid after a successful promotion from Formula 2, with the young Briton set to partner Liam Lawson. Red Bull has put significant time and effort into Lindblad’s rapid progression, having only moved into single-seater racing in 2022, with his first full-time single-seater campaign coming a year later. Much is expected of Lindblad, who is the only rookie on the grid this year. He has taken the spot of Hadjar, who finds himself alongside Max Verstappen for his second F1 campaign following a tremendous rookie season. Hadjar’s rookie year started in the worst way possible, after crashing on the formation lap in Melbourne, putting Racing Bulls on the spot to offer him immediate support and protection. He went on to make huge strides, with Permane recognising that Lindblad will need looking after to a certain degree, especially when things go wrong. Asked how much the team needs to protect and support Lindblad, Permane told talkSPORT : "Yeah, we need to be there for him. We need to be there to put our arm around him if and when things go wrong. "We will be there to support him and to make sure that nothing gets on top of him or destroys him too much. "We saw it with Isack last year, in the first race in Melbourne. It was a nightmare for him, but we also saw that with some support and care, and building him back up, two races later he had one of the races of his life in Japan. "So I think these guys are strong — these kids. They’re not normal 18-year-olds. You know, they’ve come through junior formulas, karting, and that sort of thing, and they know what they’re doing. So no, we’ll be there to look after him."

F1 2026 Barcelona pre-season test schedule
racingnews365.com·

F1 2026 Barcelona pre-season test schedule

The first pre-season test ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season gets underway on Monday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Due to the introduction of new power unit regulations, testing is starting earlier than usual ahead of the opening race in Melbourne. Rather than a single three-day test, three tests will take place before the Australian Grand Prix. The first is a behind-closed-doors five-day test in Barcelona. While the test will run from January 26 to January 30, each team can only run on three of the five days. McLaren and Ferrari have both already confirmed that they will not run on the opening day, while Williams will miss the entire test after withdrawing. Each day, the track will go live at 09:00 local time (CET) and close at 17:00. Daylight permitting, running could be extended by an hour. View the full schedule below. F1 2026 Barcelona pre-season test schedule

McLaren reveal F1 rivals 'inspiration' behind 2026 car update plans
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McLaren reveal F1 rivals 'inspiration' behind 2026 car update plans

McLaren has decided it will not follow a path set to be trodden by many of its F1 rivals and throw updates at its 2026 F1 car before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. All 11 F1 teams are scheduled to test their new machinery at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya over five days next week. For many, it will be a question of how quickly they can develop the car after the test and across the two three-day tests to follow in Bahrain in February before they head to Melbourne for the curtain-raiser on March 6-8. McLaren, though, is to bide its time, with chief designer Rob Marshall insisting the team wants to "understand" the car first before deciding in which direction it needs to head with potential upgrades. The process stems from the fact that the cars possess new power units and associated aerodynamics, and will need time to finesse, and appreciating, as well, that it may see parts on other cars that may play a role in its own development. Speaking to invited media, including RacingNews365, Marshall said: "Between Barcelona and Melbourne, I think what you see is probably pretty much what we'll bring to the first race. "A lot of our effort will be in understanding this. Also, we need to take into account what the opposition is up to: we need to be inspired by what they may or may not achieve and may or may not show us. "We really are going to have to be very focused on getting our heads around this car. It's very complicated. It's all new. "There's a lot of stuff that we need to dial in and tune in, so I think bringing a lot of new stuff to it, early doors, would complicate stuff. "I think we're better off understanding our platform before we get too keen on redesigning it before it's turned a wheel." McLaren take Austrian route Team principal Andrea Stella has outlined that McLaren will only conduct a shakedown on Monday in Barcelona before starting to test the car properly from Tuesday or Wednesday. One of the reasons for such a decision is that McLaren is pushing the development of its launch car as late as possible. "The car is in AVL in Austria to run on the dyno," said Stella, referring to the cutting-edge technology company which specialises in the testing of powertrains. "This is common practice now in F1, such that you can sign off some fundamental systems of the car much more than you can when you run some of the sub-systems, like the gearbox in a gearbox rig, and the dyno we have here at MTC. "It [AVL] is a facility that we have been using for some time, and that's where the car is at the moment, and then the car will be in Barcelona for the shakedown on track. This will happen directly at the test. We plan to start testing either on day two or day three, so we will not be testing on day one. "We wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible for development, and you are allowed to test three days over the five that are available in Barcelona."

A year on since Lewis Hamilton broke the internet
racingnews365.com·

A year on since Lewis Hamilton broke the internet

Exactly one year ago today, Lewis Hamilton stood outside Enzo Ferrari's house in Modena, dressed immaculately in a Ferragamo three-piece suit, posing beside an F40.  The image, posted on 20 January 2025, became the most liked Instagram post in Formula 1 history, amassing 5.7 million likes and reaching 25 million views on X. It was a moment of pure theatre, capturing the weight of expectation placed upon Hamilton to restore Ferrari's glory after 17 years without a constructors' championship.  The seven-time world champion's carefully curated appearance, complete with reports of him speaking Italian, signalled his total commitment to the Scuderia. What followed, however, was anything but glorious. Article continues below the Instagram post... https://www.instagram.com/p/DFC5g6WsxQW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) Hamilton's nightmare 2025 in red Hamilton's 2025 campaign became the worst of his career. For the first time since joining F1 in 2007, he completed an entire season without a single grand prix podium.  His only appearance on the top step of a rostrum came in the China Sprint last March, an anomaly that only highlighted how dire his Sundays became. The numbers tell a brutal story. Hamilton finished sixth in the championship with 156 points, 86 behind teammate Charles Leclerc's 242.  He averaged four positions below Leclerc in qualifying and suffered a historic collapse at the season's end, becoming the first full-time Ferrari driver since 2009 to qualify last.  Three consecutive Q1 eliminations from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi capped a nightmare he openly described as such. The SF-25 was fundamentally flawed. A backfiring suspension change, an extremely narrow operating window, and braking instability plagued the car.  After both Ferraris were disqualified in China for plank wear and weight violations, the team was forced into conservative setups that sacrificed performance.  Hamilton, adapting to machinery built without his input after 12 Mercedes years, never found comfort with the driving style required. Article continues below... Hamilton's 2026 reset Ferrari made a calculated decision in April 2025, stopping major development after determining the SF-25's concept carried irreparable limitations. Everything pivoted to 2026, where sweeping regulation changes offer a clean slate for all teams. The new rules introduce lighter, more agile cars with active aerodynamics, redesigned hybrid power units with an even split between combustion and electric power, and a manual override system replacing DRS. It represents the most significant overhaul in F1 history. For Hamilton, 2026 is critical. Reports suggest Ferrari are developing a split strategy to suit both him and Leclerc, with a third sidepod concept planned for the Australian season opener in March. Three separate pre-season testing sessions, starting in Barcelona on 26 January, provide crucial preparation time. That viral photograph from a year ago promised a fairytale ending to Hamilton's career. Instead, 2025 delivered pain.  Now, the 41-year-old faces his last great challenge: proving the dream is merely delayed, not dead.