Formula 1 test 2026: Why Barcelona is behind closed doors, what’s different and how the teams are progressing

Formula One decided not to allow teams to recover power from the front axle, but only from the rear. So, to help recover enough energy, they created movable front and rear wings, to reduce drag on the straights, and to ensure longer braking.

This means removing the DRS system – because the rear wing is open for a different reason. It will be replaced by an additional boost of electric power if the car is within one second of another, which is called overtaking mode.

Ensuring that all these systems are working, and starting work on improving energy use strategies, will be the focus of this first test.

In addition to the new engines, the rules provide for the first time the use of fully sustainable fuel, which is carbon neutral and made from either biomass waste or synthetic industrial processes, or both.

In theory, this type of fuel is a direct replacement for gasoline. But they actually behave differently due to the number of elements they are composed of, requiring modified combustion systems to ensure the fuel burns cleanly.

Teams will also be able to take on cars whose aerodynamics have fundamentally changed from last year.

The cars are a little smaller, lighter and narrower, and so are the tires. In addition to the movable wings, the entire philosophy behind the chassis rules has changed.

Gone are the venturi tunnels under the body that created a ground effect that required cars to run as close to the ground as possible with extremely stiff suspension.

Instead, Formula One has returned to what is known as ‘gradient floors’, which are essentially flat bottoms similar to those that ran from 1983 to 2021.

This means that the aerodynamics will work in a completely different way, and as a result, the cars will behave and need to be driven differently. It would also likely mean the return of tilt – where the rear runs much higher than the front, as was the case until the end of 2021 – and slightly softer springs.