Overview
- Mercedes will release W17 renders on January 22 and hold a streamed season launch on February 2 with George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Toto Wolff.
- Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says the Barcelona outing will prioritize mileage and reliability over lap times, with teams likely to run baseline ‘spec A’ cars that evolve quickly.
- Pre-season testing opens privately at Barcelona on January 26–30 with teams limited to any three days, followed by public tests in Bahrain on February 11–13 and 18–20 before Melbourne on March 6–8.
- Williams will unveil its FW48 livery on February 3 after running a fan‑voted one‑off testing design at Barcelona as it debuts the Atlassian Williams F1 Team branding.
- Cadillac has appointed Zhou Guanyu as reserve to support Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez and will race with Ferrari power units before General Motors’ own engine project targets 2029.