F1Weekly Podcast # 1134

2026-02-15

…ON TODAYS PROGRAM… MAX SAYS THE NEW CARS ARE ANTI-RACING, NOT FUN TO DRIVE FORMULA E ON STEROIDS!!!LCH SAYS NEW CARS SLOWER THAN GP2!! AAAHHH! AND RIDICULOUSLY COMPLICATED!! THE FANS WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND IT!!!LANCE STROLL INSISTS ASTON MARTIN 4 SECONDS SLOWER THAN LEADERS…sorry FERNANDO…ALPINE AND AUDI DISPLAY INTERESTING APPROACH TO REAR WINGS AND SIDE PODS….ANDFERNANDO…THE ASTON. MARTIN CHEF COULD DRIVE THESE CARS!! THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER…MORE VINTAGE BANTER BETWEEN THE HOST AND NASIR…THIS WEEKS SPECIAL GUEST: MIKA SALO AND PAUL VALLHAUG FROM NORWAY…! 2026 Bahrain Pre-Season Test - Day Three The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team has completed its first week of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Lance Stroll returning to the wheel of the AMR26. Lance headed out on track at approximately 10:30, completing running across both the morning and afternoon sessions, as the team focused on aero mapping as well as low and high fuel runs. He completed a total of 72 laps during the day. Across the three days in Bahrain, the AMR26 completed a total of 206 laps bet...

The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team has completed its first week of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Lance Stroll returning to the wheel of the AMR26.

Lance headed out on track at approximately 10:30, completing running across both the morning and afternoon sessions, as the team focused on aero mapping as well as low and high fuel runs. He completed a total of 72 laps during the day.

Across the three days in Bahrain, the AMR26 completed a total of 206 laps between Lance and Fernando, allowing the team to gather valuable data during the opening week of testing. The drivers will return to the cockpit next week for the second phase of testing, before final preparations begin for Melbourne.

Mike Krack

“After completing the shakedown in Barcelona, we have now finished our first test of the new season. We ran into some issues earlier in the week, and that’s exactly why we go testing - especially with new regulations. This whole package is very fresh, so it takes time to understand all the different elements and identify where we need to improve. A big thank you to the entire team for the hours worked across the three days of testing. We are realistic in knowing that there is a lot of performance still to unlock in this package, and it is important that we analyse all of our learnings ahead of next week.

Williams F1 team 2026 Bahrain pre-season testing – Day 3

Alex Albon: We knew it was going to be a challenging three days getting up to speed and starting to understand the new car and regulations. The positive is that we got quite a few laps under our belt and the car seems reliable, which is never easy for the first week of testing. On my side, getting to grips with a new car has been a challenge, but I am enjoying the intricacies of it. There’s a lot of improvement to be done and a lot to learn to bring a better package for the next round of testing, so it will be a busy next week of really digging in to the data.

Carlos Sainz: Overall, it’s been good to test the car properly these past days and be able to do as many laps as we have done. We are still playing catch up on certain things, but doing over 210 laps has given me a much better understanding of what we can expect this year. The cars feel very different and it’s going to be a challenging season, but this is nothing new and I’m up for the challenge. It’s still early days to discuss performance in detail and compare ourselves to our direct competitors, but it is clear that the gap between teams is not as tight as last year, at least not for now. What is important for me is that we have identified the main areas we want to focus on in the upcoming weeks and I hope that we can improve gradually as we get closer to Melbourne. There is a lot of work ahead of us as a team so there is no time to lose.

Théophile Nael leads the way on the final day of the Barcelona F3 pre-season test

Campos Racing’s Théophile Nael finished with the fastest lap on the final day of the Barcelona pre-season test, completing a 1:27.525 in the morning session when times were at their quickest.

In the afternoon, it was Gerrard Xie who ended up at the top of the leaderboard with a 1:29.676 for DAMS Lucas Oil.

MORNING
Similar to Day 2, the teams started with Qualifying runs on old Hard tyres, but before the first set of laps could be completed, the Red Flags were out with James Wharton stuck in gravel between Turns 7 and 8.

However, once the PREMA Racing driver was back in the pitlane, action resumed and Patrick Heuzenroeder went fastest with a 1:29.354.

The drivers then had new tyres fitted to their cars for their next set of laps, and this time it was Noah Stromsted on top by just 0.034s to Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu, with a 1:27.620.

Ugochukwu improved on his next attempt, but still wound up in second place, cutting the gap to the TRIDENT driver to just 0.020s, while teammate Théophile Nael moved up to third ahead of Freddie Slater.

With the majority of the field back in the pitlane, Nael returned to the track for more shot at a Qualifying lap and completed a 1:27.525 to go fastest by just 0.095s.

The teams then turned their attentions to long run performance, meaning that no one bettered Nael, who led the way ahead of Stromsted, Ugochukwu, Slater and Brando Badoer in the morning.

AFTERNOON
Long runs kicked off the afternoon session with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Deligny setting the early pace with a 1:32.430.

That time was then beaten by Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer as the session approached the 40-minute mark, and just before José Garfias stopped on track at Turn 6, bringing out the Red Flags.

Once the session resumed, AIX Racing went to the top of the leaderboard, with Brad Benavides’ 1:31.573 putting him ahead of Fernando Barrichello by 0.115s.

Running was paused once again just as the second hour was about to start, with Slater having stopped on track at Turn 12, causing the marshals to wave the Red Flags.

Race runs resumed as the drivers looked to make the most of the track time before the test ended. However, Fionn McLaughlin then got stuck in the gravel trap at the final corner, leading to another Red Flag stoppage.

Green flags were waved with over an hour to go in the day, with long run mileage still the top priority. However, heading into the final 30 minutes, Brando Badoer and then Matteo De Palo went quickest.

The TRIDENT driver completed a 1:30.910, which was over half a second quicker than Hitech’s Tim Tramnitz.

DAMS Lucas Oil then went faster with just over five minutes to go, Nicola Lacorte leading the way with a 1:29.676, over half a second faster than teammate Gerrard Xie.

There were no further improvements for the rest of the session, with Lacorte on top ahead of Xie, De Palo, Tramnitz and Badoer.

That wraps up pre-season testing with the drivers next out on track at Round 1 in Melbourne from March 6-8.

2026 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – BARCELONA CIRCUIT, PRE-SEASON TESTING: DAY 3, MORNING SESSION

|
|
DRIVER
|
LICENCE
|
TEAM
|
LAPTIME
|
LAPS
|
|
1
|
Theophile Nael
|
FRA
|
Campos Racing
|
1:27.525
|
46
|
|
2
|
Noah Stromste |
DEN
|
TRIDENT
|
1:27.620
|
33
|
|
3
|
Ugo Ugochukwu
|
USA
|
Campos Racing
|
1:27.640
|
46
|
|
4
|
Freddie Slater
|
GBR
|
TRIDENT
|
1:27.724
|
37
|
|
5
|
Brando Badoer
|
ITA
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:27.891
|
26
|
|
6
|
Patrick Heuzenroeder
|
AUS
|
Campos Racing
|
1:27.926
|
45
|
|
7
|
Brad Benavides
|
USA
|
AIX Racing
|
1:27.979
|
30
|
|
8
|
Tuukka Taponen
|
FIN
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:28.075
|
18
|
|
9
|
Louis Sharp
|
NZL
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:28.085
|
40
|
|
10
|
Nicola Lacorte
|
ITA
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:28.090
|
22
|
|
11
|
Taito Kato
|
JPN
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:28.120
|
19
|
|
12
|
Christian Ho
|
SGP
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:28.132
|
27
|
|
13
|
Jin Nakamura
|
JPN
|
Hitech
|
1:28.144
|
41
|
|
14
|
Pedro Clerot
|
BRA
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:28.164
|
28
|
|
15
|
Tim Tramnitz
|
GER
|
Hitech
|
1:28.165
|
44
|
|
16
|
Maciej Gladysz
|
POL
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:28.183
|
17
|
|
17
|
Matteo De Palo
|
ITA
|
TRIDENT
|
1:28.286
|
40
|
|
18
|
Enzo Deligny
|
FRA
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:28.315
|
26
|
|
19
|
James Wharton
|
AUS
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:28.338
|
41
|
|
20
|
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi
|
THA
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:28.343
|
29
|
|
21
|
Kanato Le
|
JPN
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:28.367
|
20
|
|
22
|
Yevan David
|
SRI
|
AIX Racing
|
1:28.409
|
27
|
|
23
|
Fernando Barrichello
|
BRA
|
AIX Racing
|
1:28.463
|
26
|
|
24
|
Alessandro Giusti
|
FRA
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:28.463
|
20
|
|
25
|
Hiyu Yamakoshi
|
JPN
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:28.482
|
35
|
|
26
|
Fionn Mclaughlin
|
IRL
|
Hitech
|
1:28.562
|
39
|
|
27
|
Jose Garfias
|
MEX
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:28.586
|
40
|
|
28
|
Bruno Del Pino
|
ESP
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:28.590
|
28
|
|
29
|
Mattia Colnaghi
|
ARG
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:28.965
|
21
|
|
30
|
Gerrard Xie
|
CHN
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:28.976
|
44
|

2026 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – BARCELONA CIRCUIT, PRE-SEASON TESTING: DAY 3, AFTERNOON SESSION

|
|
DRIVER
|
LICENCE
|
TEAM
|
LAPTIME
|
LAPS
|
|
1
|
Nicola Lacorte
|
ITA
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:29.676
|
35
|
|
2
|
Gerrard Xie
|
CHN
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:30.275
|
26
|
|
3
|
Matteo De Palo
|
ITA
|
TRIDENT
|
1:30.910
|
23
|
|
4
|
Tim Tramnitz
|
GER
|
Hitech
|
1:31.285
|
35
|
|
5
|
Brando Badoer
|
ITA
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:31.473
|
40
|
|
6
|
Brad Benavides
|
USA
|
AIX Racing
|
1:31.573
|
32
|
|
7
|
Fernando Barrichello
|
BRA
|
AIX Racing
|
1:31.688
|
46
|
|
8
|
Noah Stromsted
|
DEN
|
TRIDENT
|
1:31.717
|
37
|
|
9
|
Ugo Ugochukwu
|
USA
|
Campos Racing
|
1:31.806
|
51
|
|
10
|
Christian Ho
|
SGP
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:31.997
|
39
|
|
11
|
Yevan David
|
SRI
|
AIX Racing
|
1:32.052
|
29
|
|
12
|
Theophile Nael
|
FRA
|
Campos Racing
|
1:32.230
|
47
|
|
13
|
Freddie Slater
|
GBR
|
TRIDENT
|
1:32.370
|
23
|
|
14
|
Jose Garfias
|
MEX
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:32.413
|
46
|
|
15
|
Tuukka Taponen
|
FIN
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:32.415
|
66
|
|
16
|
Enzo Deligny
|
FRA
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:32.430
|
53
|
|
17
|
Taito Kato
|
JPN
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.476
|
52
|
|
18
|
Maciej Gladysz
|
POL
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.488
|
51
|
|
19
|
Pedro Clerot
|
BRA
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
1:32.499
|
37
|
|
20
|
Hiyu Yamakoshi
|
JPN
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:32.502
|
53
|
|
21
|
Fionn Mclaughlin
|
IRL
|
Hitech
|
1:32.608
|
21
|
|
22
|
Patrick Heuzenroeder
|
AUS
|
Campos Racing
|
1:32.644
|
50
|
|
23
|
Alessandro Giusti
|
FRA
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:32.660
|
31
|
|
24
|
Bruno Del Pino
|
SPN
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
1:32.704
|
54
|
|
25
|
Mattia Colnaghi
|
ARG
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:32.974
|
54
|
|
26
|
Kanato Le
|
JPN
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:32.995
|
48
|
|
27
|
Louis Sharp
|
NLZ
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:33.058
|
49
|
|
28
|
Jin Nakamura
|
JPN
|
Hitech
|
1:33.181
|
32
|
|
29
|
James Wharton
|
AUS
|
PREMA Racing
|
1:33.199
|
48
|
|
30
|
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi
|
THA
|
DAMS Lucas Oil
|
1:33.742
|
51
|

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