{"id":38764,"date":"2026-01-27T10:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=38764"},"modified":"2026-01-27T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:07:04","slug":"red-bull-rb22-exceeds-expectations-in-first-barcelona-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2026\/01\/27\/red-bull-rb22-exceeds-expectations-in-first-barcelona-runs\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull: RB22 exceeds expectations in first Barcelona runs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second day of action in Barcelona could be the quietest of the week. Only two teams (Red Bull and Ferrari<\/a>) have chosen to go on track today, with wet conditions discouraging others from running.<\/p>\n

Still, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have been busy despite the slippery surface. In the case of Leclerc, over 60 laps have already been logged on the SF-26 – an impressive number that serves as encouragement for the reliability of the Maranello power unit.<\/p>\n

At Red Bull, Verstappen has reportedly completed around 30 laps in the morning session. Hadjar has taken over for this afternoon, having expressed his satisfaction with the RB22 after his first programme on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Isack Hadjar driving the (6) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 during day one of F1 Shakedown at Circuit de Catalunya. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Red Bull cautiously optimistic after first indications<\/h2>\n

There are several unknowns for Red Bull to overcome in 2026. First and foremost, the Milton Keynes squad is entering its first ever season as an engine manufacturer.<\/p>\n

This is a tremendous challenge which, on paper, could interrupt the Austrian team’s foothold at the front of the grid. Throughout the winter, team principal Laurent Mekies<\/a> has been adamant that the start of the year will be difficult.<\/p>\n

With that said, Red Bull can never be written off. Their development into the same compression ratio solution being exploited by Mercedes engines<\/a>\u00a0was an early reminder of the Austrian team’s capacity to adapt and innovate.<\/p>\n

Their acquisition of several experienced rival engine technicians means Red Bull Powertrains already has a strong department. Still, there were always going to be doubts heading into Barcelona.<\/p>\n

As a result, Isack Hadjar was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly his programme went on Monday. Audi<\/a>, who also debut their first engine this season, encountered problems relatively early.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Bortoleto’s day came to a conclusion after just 27 laps on Monday. The Brazilian said that multiple issues were being investigated on the R26, which Audi hope to understand before their next day of running.<\/p>\n

Of course, such hiccups and failures are a natural part of testing. Still, Red Bull can be encouraged by their progress. At the time of writing, no major issues on their second track day have been reported.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Laurent Mekies in the Pitlane during day one of F1 Shakedown at Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hadjar content after first session in Red Bull<\/h4>\n

Speaking after his first day in the RB22, Hadjar explained he was pleasantly surprised:<\/p>\n

“Yeah it was pretty productive, surprisingly. We managed to do a lot more laps than expected. Everything went pretty smooth, we only had minor issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s quite impressive considering it’s our first day with our own engine. So it was definitely smooth. <\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s definitely a lot less load in general [the 2026 car]. It’s a bit more predictable compared to the previous generation of cars – it’s a lot more simple, easier to play around with them.<\/em><\/p>\n

“And also from the PU [power unit] side there’s a lot more options for the driver to play with. I already started to work on it today, so that was very interesting.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Honestly, [the engine’s drivability] it’s pretty decent for the first day. It doesn’t feel too far off what I’m used to, based on my first season – the upshift, downshift, that was OK.<\/em><\/p>\n

“There’s still a few things to tweak around, of course, but it’s solid.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Considering how poor reliability was in the first tests ahead of the 2014 season (the last regulation change of this magnitude) there were fears that mechanical failures would dominate the Barcelona shakedown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The evidence suggests these fears were blown out of proportion. Red Bull’s solid start is a positive indication that, despite the obstacles ahead of them, they can still be competitive.<\/p>\n

This is not necessarily a complete surprise. LWOS has previously discussed why the Red Bull engine could exceed expectations<\/a> in 2026. Still, it is too soon for Laurent Mekies to start celebrating.<\/p>\n

It will take more running at a higher engine mode to determine the durability of his team’s power unit. Moreover, there is also the issue of how much horsepower it produces compared to other manufacturers – not to mention its electrical efficiency and harvesting.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images (Red Bull Content Pool)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The second day of action in Barcelona could be the quietest of the week. Only two teams (Red Bull and Ferrari) have chosen to go on track today, with wet conditions discouraging others from running. Still, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have been busy despite the slippery surface. In the case of Leclerc, over 60 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":38766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2582,1750,78],"class_list":["post-38764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2026-season","tag-isack-hadjar","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38764"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38772,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38764\/revisions\/38772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}