Red Bull anticipating 'struggle' to be ready for first F1 2026 test

Red Bull has admitted it will be a “struggle” to get its car ready for the first on-track test in Barcelona later this month.

Three pre-season tests will take place before the opening round of the season in Australia, with the first outing being held in Spain at the end of January.

The test will be held behind closed doors and spread across five days, however each team will choose three days to put its challenger through its first laps.

Although Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan admitted it would be a challenge to get the car prepared, he is confident it will be ready.

“It’s going to be quite a struggle to get to Barcelona,” Monaghan told media including RacingNews365.

“And if you think we’re going to turn up with two versions of a top body — one is real and one is fake — no.

“If we get there in good shape and the car runs, fine. We've then got something to build upon, rather than trying to confuse ourselves with multiple options of it.”

The scale of the regulation overhaul this year has been described as one of the biggest ever in the sport's history, as changes are made to both the aerodynamics and power unit rules.

With all teams facing a blank page, Monaghan is expecting teams to keep their cards close to their chests as they discover the potential of their cars.

“There’ll still be all the games — what are you doing with the energy, which fuel you’ve got on board, is it your race one package, is it your launch package, is it different? So that will all go on — and that's fine,” he said. “That’s part of it.

“As we go towards the second Bahrain test, it might be possible to pick a bit of an initial running order from that.

“But these are prototype type cars, we can change them. So even if we are disappointed at the second Bahrain test it doesn’t mean that will be the same thing that goes to Australia.

“If we can engineer a change and bring it to the car and draw benefit from it, we will, as will Mercedes, Aston Martin, as will everybody in the pit lane.

“So it might not be as flagrant as it has been in the past with one week’s testing — it was difficult. I think we’ll hit the ground running with what we've got in Barcelona.”