‘Extreme’ Newey suspension under scrutiny; Mercedes hides three to four seconds – round-up

Here are the latest major Formula 1 headlines, as the final week before Bahrain testing comes to a close.

By Wednesday, teams will hit the track for the official start of pre-season testing, but before then, Adrian Newey’s “extreme” suspension choice on the Aston Martin AMR26 has been under the James Vowles microscope. Mercedes, meanwhile, could unleash some of the three to four seconds which they are alleged to be holding back in the W17. Let’s take a closer look.

Adrian Newey ‘extreme’ suspension innovation analysed

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Understandably, there was a huge buzz around the Aston Martin AMR26 which hit the track in Barcelona. The team’s first challenger designed under F1 icon Adrian Newey, unique solutions were expected, and that is exactly what we got.

The AMR26’s wishbone arrangement caught the eye of Williams team principal James Vowles, who “wouldn’t want to be the designer for that one.”

Read more – ‘Very extreme’ – Adrian Newey’s AMR26 suspension catches eye of rival F1 team boss

Mercedes hiding three to four seconds of W17 performance?

That is the claim of seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya, anyway.

His sources have indicated to him that Mercedes – the title favourites – has as much as four seconds still lurking in the W17, just waiting to be unleashed.

Read more – Does Mercedes have three to four seconds in W17 left to unleash?

McLaren to go down Mercedes ‘rathole’?

Few are betting against Mercedes right now to contend for both F1 2026 championships. A team which will look to do something about that is McLaren, the reigning double champions.

Perhaps, McLaren will take a page out of the Mercedes book to try and do so.

The Mercedes W17 mousehole has stood out among F1 2026’s innovations so far, the Silver Arrows enlarging it to what former Jordan F1 technical director Gary Anderson termed a “rathole”.

He waits to see how McLaren, the frontrunner yet to innovate in this field, responds.

Read more – Will McLaren go down the Mercedes ‘rathole’?

Max Verstappen not chasing seven titles

Max Verstappen can see the parallels between himself and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

Yet, even though Verstappen – yet to reach 30 – heads into F1 2026 chasing a fifth crown, he is not interested in chasing that tally of seven jointly held by Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Read more – Max Verstappen will not chase seven titles despite Michael Schumacher parallels

Haas ‘expected more’ from Esteban Ocon

A driver meanwhile seemingly racing for his Formula 1 future this season is Esteban Ocon.

Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has made the honest admission that Ocon – a grand prix winner – did not live up to Haas’ expectations in 2025.

But, strong progress in his integration at Haas provides hope for the season ahead.

Read more – Haas ‘expected more’ from Ocon as F1 2026 hope emerges