Motorsports
McLaren and Ferrari faster at dawn 2022
The McLaren MCL36 and Ferrari F1-75 were the two fastest cars with the soft and medium tire sets respectively ahead of the Mercedes W13 on the first – unexpectedly smooth – day of F1 winter testing in Barcelona, Spain.
McLaren and Ferrari – along with the impressive side air intakes of the Red Bull RB18 – stole the show on the opening day of Formula 1 winter testing for the 2022 season at the Barcelona circuit in Spain.
On the first morning in Montmellier, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari F1-75 was fastest with a time of 1:20.165 – before handing his place to Carlos Saint in the afternoon. With the middle eraser (C3), the Spaniard soon got within two and a half tenths of Monegasco and the Scuderia dominated almost to the end.
But in the final hour of testing, Lando Norris put the soft rubber (C4) in the four corners of the McLaren MCL35, bringing the first year down to 1:19.951, and then to 1:19.568 with a second fresh set of soft tires – for the vanguard to steal in the final .
The Mercedes champion was more than a second away from McLaren, with George Russell a tenth and a half quicker than Lewis Hamilton. The latter lost a lot of time in the pits in the final hour of testing while the team made modifications to the front suspension to correct for mid-stretch hits.
Champion Max Ferstappen had almost no qualms about absolute speed. Instead, he sought and managed to complete the mileage of two regular races, totaling 147 laps, to collect valuable data for the new RB18. And that’s despite having one of the few surprises of the day, a small exit off the track that didn’t leave him stuck in the sand trap.
Only Ferrari exceeded – by six laps – the distance covered by Ferstappen, as all the cars (most with three times the number of laps) showed impressive reliability – considering their youth.
Given that the engines have remained the same since last year, this makes a lot of sense, but even Alpine turned triple-digit laps on the back of Fernando Alonso with its all-new Renault powerplant – adopting split-turbo for the first time.
The Spaniard completed 127 laps, as did the two Mercedes drivers with the new W13, Williams achieved 132 and the only ones to stay low on the lap count were Haas and Alfa Romeo. Both teams had bottoming issues on the VF-22 and C42, resulting in just 43 and 32 laps, respectively.
After the unexpectedly smooth first day of Formula 1 winter testing, the cars will return to the track in Barcelona at 10:00 on Thursday morning (February 24). The first three days of testing this year will end on Friday afternoon, and the second will take place in Bahrain on March 10-12.
Barcelona Tests – Day 1
1. Norris (McLaren) 1:19.568
2. Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.597
3.Ferrari +0.848
4. Russell (Mercedes) +1,216
5.Hamilton (Mercedes) +1.361
6. Vettel (Aston Martin) +1.708
7. Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +2,070
8. Alpine +2,178
9. Ferstappen (Red Bull) +2,678
10. Boots (Alfa Romeo) +3,004
11. Albon (Williams) +3,192
12. Schumacher (Haas) +3,358
13. Latifi (Williams) +3,759
14. Walk (Aston Martin) +3.811
15. Mazepin (Haas) +4,937
16. Button (Alfa Romeo) +6.341
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
One of the two new teams on the Formula 1 grid is preparing to introduce its car for the 2026 season. The Audi team will officially reveal the new car at a special event in Berlin on Tuesday, January 20.
Audi has fully taken over Sauber’s project ahead of the 2026 season and will start its first Formula 1 championship as a factory team and power unit manufacturer. The team has also retained a significant portion of its 2025 Sauber structure, including team boss Jonathan Whitley and drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
This will make Audi the fourth team to submit designs for its 2026 car, after Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Haas. The presentation will take place in the German capital in the format of a full-fledged seasonal launch.
Following the main event, a separate event will be held in Berlin on Wednesday, January 21 for selected fans and media to take a closer look at the new car and its livery.
The presentation will start on January 20 at 20:00 Kyiv time. During the event, the team will reveal the car’s full design for the 2026 season.
Let’s remember that Audi had previously put the 2026 car on the track during promotional races at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit in early January, but only a limited number of images were released at that time.
Formula 1. Presentation of the first Audi car. Watch LIVE online
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg can count on a multimillion-dollar bonus in his first season with Audi if he can repeat the results in the 2025 season.
Last season, the German pilot reached the Formula 1 podium after 250 races for the first time in his career and finished the British Grand Prix in third place. At Silverstone, Hulkenberg was ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and scored 15 points in one go.
Hulkenberg scored 51 points at the end of the 2025 season.
On the eve of Audi’s first season, specialized media reported that the 38-year-old pilot signed a contract providing a bonus of 50 thousand euros for each point earned in the 2026 season.
Given the large-scale changes in Formula 1, even the pilots themselves cannot yet predict the balance of power in the peloton. However, if Hulkenberg scores 51 points again, the bonus can reach 2 million 550 thousand euros in addition to his base salary at Audi.
If Nico manages to win the race and score the maximum 25 points, this will immediately earn him a bonus of 1,250,000 euros.
The team will present the appearance of its first car today at 20:00 Kyiv time.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Thomas Berman, the younger brother of Haas Formula 1 team driver Oliver Berman, will officially take part in Italian Formula 4 and Euro 4 in the 2026 season.
Thomas will represent the VAR team colours.
The 16-year-old Briton spent last year in British Formula 4, where he scored one win and finished eighth in the final season standings.
But the ones that are considered the most prestigious and promising are the Italian and European Formula 4 championships. They are often chosen by young pilots for further career advancement. In addition, Thomas’ older brother Oliver Berman also competed in these series and became the Italian Formula 4 champion in 2021 with 11 wins.
Let us also remind you that Ukrainian Alexander Bondarev will compete in the same championships with the Prima Racing team in the 2026 season. The Ukrainian pilot does not hide his ambitions and has repeatedly expressed his intention to fight for the championship title.
Bondarev now participates in Middle East Formula 4 in preparation for the European leg of the season. After the first stage, he took first place in the general rankings and became the leader in the rankings.
Thomas Berman will compete in the Formula Winter Series as part of his preparations.
The competition between the current “four” promises to be extremely high, and the appearance of the younger brother of the Formula 1 pilot will only increase interest in the series.
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Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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