McLaren and Red Bull unveil 2026 cars as testing starts

McLaren and Red Bull have released images of their 2026 Formula 1 cars as pre-season testing starts in Spain.

McLaren, who won the drivers’ and constructors’ championship double last year for the first time since 1998, showed the car in the one-off livery it will use for this week’s testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Teams are holding a private test to which independent media have not been given access.

Red Bull showed studio shots of their car, carefully chosen to disguise key design features.

It is the first Red Bull design to use their new in-house engine, which has been developed in conjunction with new partner Ford.

Red Bull have not yet said when the RB22 will run for the first time. Teams can choose three of the five days to test their cars.

McLaren say they will definitely not take part in the first day, and possibly not the second. They preferred to devote extra time to design and development rather than be on track for the opening day of testing.

Aston Martin’s car is facing a race against time to be ready to do the full three days of possible running. The team have not revealed details of their programme, despite requests.

Williams are missing the test in Barcelona as a result of delays with the build of their car.

The other teams will all release limited amount of officially approved information through the course of the test.