The Formula 1 winter test in Barcelona is turning into a major bloodbath. Earlier this week, McLaren announced that they would not appear at the start of the first test for the 2026 F1 season, with the British team having made a conscious choice to continue developing the new car of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for as long as possible. But since then, two more teams have indicated that they will not be present at the start of the winter test.
Williams’ absence in particular made big news on Friday. James Vowles’ team indicated that they had been delayed in the development of the FW48, the 2026 car of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. The racing stable from Grove is said to have failed the crash test, meaning they can only test in the virtual world next week. Williams will skip the entire winter test in Barcelona!
And now the news has emerged that Aston Martin, the team seen as one of the contenders to score big in 2026, will also not make it to the start of the first winter test. Led by Adrian Newey, Aston Martin will attempt to compete for the championship this year, in partnership with Honda – which has won six titles in the last five seasons.
But Aston Martin’s expected rise has suffered a major setback, as they have not completed the development of the AMR26 in time to be in action in Barcelona on Monday. There were already rumors that Aston Martin would indeed be absent and those rumors now appear to be true.
On Monday, the first day of the test week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the British team will announce which days they will race that week – if they can compete at all.
