'Seagull beaks' and diffuser holes: The most striking 2026 F1 testing innovations

The first pre-season test, which finished on Friday, provided the first opportunity to see the actual cars on track, in their initial configurations.

It was expected that from the FIA's renders, there would be a wide variety of solutions among the teams, despite the fact that on a macroscopic level, there was almost total convergence on certain design ideas, such as the push rod layout of the front and rear suspensions.

In terms of specific teams, some proved more interesting than others, with a large slot in the side-wall of the Mercedes W17 diffuser raising eyebrows, especially among the usual conspiracy theorists on social media regarding its possible illegality.

As we previously wrote, this design is a fully legal trick Mercedes has followed, with the W17 a very mature car, and in fact, almost a logical evolution of the final ground effects car, but on a smaller scale. 

Confirmation of the legality of the Mercedes diffuser slot came from the Red Bull RB22, which sported a similar design, with the sidepods of the car being very interesting.

Specifically, the positioning of the side intrusion cones at the upper edge of the sidepods is noteworthy, with the lateral end extending beyond the outer profile of the sidepod, further emphasising the reduced section of this area of the car.

Turning to the Ferrari SF-26, it was interesting to see the adoption of a strongling inclined triangle at the front, with the rear arm attachment point very low and set back, drawing inspiration from the title-winning 2025 McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's new car does not appear to be a visually radical design, but the sophistication of its internal fluid dynamics is clearly evident from the reappearance of the bypass duct at the side of the cockpit in the cross-section of the engine air intake.

As for McLaren, the MCL40 appears vastly different from its championship-winning predecessor with clear visible changes in the suspension layout, but the real innovations in terms of packaging and internal mechanics are disguised.

The Aston Martin AMR26, on first glance on Thursday has the specific characteristics of every car designed by Adrian Newey, meaning it is not an ordinary projct.

The positioning of the upper rear suspension triangle have been tailored to suit the aerodynamic requirements at this crucial area of the car.

The wide nose and low profile resemble a sea-gull beak, but these are only the most visible features of a project which underwent a non-linear gestation period around the time of mating the Honda power unit to the chassis.

This may prove to be an advantage in the medium term, but it forced the Silverstone team to radically rethink the project over the summer of 2025.