Two days post the final 2025 season Grand Prix, all F1 teams have taken to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for pre-2026 testing. Twenty-five drivers across the grid took part with each having one mule car to test Pirelli’s new 2026 tyres. Designed to mimic next season’s downforce levels, the mule cars are still ground-effect machinery, while the other 10 cars were allocated to rookies in the young drivers’ test.
“It’s been an interesting day whereby we tried to get some advances for 2026,” commented Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson. “We also had the opportunity to test the new tyres in a window that’s as close as possible to what we’ll have next year, so this will give us some important data to take forward.
“It’s a very different feeling compared to what we’ve been driving this season, so it’s always good to have a first taste ahead of time. The winter break will give me some time to think about what I’ve just driven before coming back next year with the new car, which I’m looking forward to.”
“Overall, it was a good day with both Liam and Arvid (Lindblad) out on track,” commented Mattia Spini, VCARB Chief Race Engineer. “It wasn’t perfect, as we had to stop a bit earlier than expected with Arvid due to an issue with the car. However, we got him working with the engineers and we trained him with a lot of procedures; he’s getting up to speed very well.
“We collected a lot of data on the tyres thanks to Liam’s runs and we came from this test with a lot of knowledge. We’ll now need to analyse the data collected and build up for 2026.”
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