Overview
- Charles Leclerc led Day 2 with a 1:34.273 as the fastest lap of the test so far, after Lando Norris topped Day 1, though teams cautioned that lap times are not definitive.
- Mercedes’ test unraveled when Andrea Kimi Antonelli stopped after three laps with a power‑unit failure that forced a full engine change before George Russell returned for limited running.
- Red Bull lost much of the morning to a hydraulic leak on Isack Hadjar’s car, a day after Max Verstappen completed 136 laps and drew praise for superior straight‑line energy deployment from Toto Wolff.
- Verstappen said the new 2026 cars are “not a lot of fun” and feel like “Formula E on steroids,” while Lewis Hamilton flagged reduced downforce, complex energy systems and called for an equal playing field.
- Ferrari, Honda and Audi have pressed the FIA over Mercedes’ compression‑ratio approach on the combustion engine, with a ruling sought ahead of homologation and the season opener in Melbourne.