Ten new cars, five days, no fans. And plenty of security.
Formula 1 started a new era with the public and the media excluded from the teams’ reliability-focused private testing session in Spain on Monday.
In an era when F1 fans have become used to getting all the details on drivers and teams, the most extensive test of the all-new 2026 cars began with a sign of just how private this week will be. A group including journalists was moved from a vantage point outside the circuit with a view of the track.
“The journalists, content creators, photographers and fans who were asked to move away were located on private property,” the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya said in a statement. “For this reason, security staff and the police requested that they leave the area.”
It’s hard to imagine a bigger contrast to last year’s lavish launch party that involved 16,000 fans and famous faces in London.