F1 Testing 2026 – First Test, Day 2
episodePreviously titled “F1 Testing 2026 – Day 2” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
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What were the highlights of Day 2 F1 testing in 2026?
Hello everybody and welcome! to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy. It is a phenomenal day to be alive because Charles Leclerc has topped a session, albeit, yes, an eight-hour testing session on day two of the 2026 season. However, it has happened. The dreams, the hopes. Tommy, I might be ridden with cold, but I'm also ridden with hopium.
Indeed. Yeah. What a Charlecler P1 does to a man. 3.9 seconds clear of the Nui rocket ship, which we'll talk about later.
How does Charles Leclerc's performance impact Ferrari's season?
And, well, yeah, it's been another very interesting day and a lot more reliability woes for some than we kind of thought after talking a lot about how it wasn't as bad. And then, yeah, obviously, of course, we're seeing that only the final hour again in kind of video form and a live format. But they kind of went straight in and it's like, look at all these cars breaking down was basically the kind of summary of all the first few hours of the kind of testing.
So I'm sat there like, why are we not watching it then? The camera operators are there. Is it because they don't want to pay the commentary? Like, what is the reason at this point? Because we see the breakdowns. It's not like they're not showing us. It's absolutely bizarre. But yes, a few twists and turns, I would say, for day two of testing in terms of some teams we thought were unbreakable. And they had a few struggles, Mercedes being one of them. Right, let's get into a question straight away. Let's dive into it. From P1 Patreon member Longo1996. Are we feeling better about Ferrari's season after Leclerc's performance during today's testing? Do you think? Do you think maybe I'm getting ahead of myself slightly?
Yes, absolutely. No, surely not. However, however, and we will come on to Aston Martin and their lack of pace, there is nothing wrong with topping a testing timesheet. It means Ferrari will not be the slowest car, which is something I can now, you know, relax about because you never know with big shake-ups, they could easily get it massively wrong. But that Ferrari engine, more... specifically looks consistent currently bulletproof i'm saying words i'm going to regret australia did 139 laps today uh you have ollie behrman up in third at 1.1 seconds off of charlotte of course also with a ferrari engine 130 laps for him And I'm not saying Ferrari are clear, but it's positive signs. And positivity is not something I've had in quite some time.
So I will take it.
It's very positive signs for Ferrari. I think it's a surprise. Obviously, there was a lot of negative chatter beforehand about where they'd be with their engine. And obviously, we don't know the pecking order yet. as of yet but from kind of what we've seen so far it does feel like Ferrari are at the very least in that kind of top four pack with the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull which is kind of hilarious that those are normally the big four and we've had this massive rule shake up and it's looking like those four are still ahead potentially but Ferrari have done a really good job and I think not only have they been quick and surprised people they did in the shakedown they did again in testing it is the reliability you know Cadillac yes they've had you know a couple of moments where where the cars kind of stopped but you maybe expect that more from a new team not saying like the Ferrari engine is you know completely bulletproof but has been incredibly impressive and then yeah like Ferrari putting in all those laps and
while other teams have had issues and every other engine seemingly had those issues. It's looking very nice indeed for Ferrari so far.
What reliability issues are teams facing during testing?
It certainly is. I'm a happy, happy boy. Right, next question. Firebreath asks, do Ferrari have the best engine when it comes to reliability and power since both Mercedes and Red Bull have had problems? Meanwhile, Ferrari are still using the engine from the Barcelona test and it's still doing just fine.
I wouldn't say in terms of like power, we're still yet to kind of find out. Reliability, yes, has definitely been very impressive. They do have, you know, it's not like their engine is completely hopeless and they're off.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What were the highlights of Day 2 F1 testing in 2026?
0:05–0:45
2
How does Charles Leclerc's performance impact Ferrari's season?
0:45–4:22
3
What reliability issues are teams facing during testing?
4:22–6:04
4
Are Aston Martin at risk of repeating McLaren's past struggles?
6:04–8:53
5
What makes Ferrari's engine stand out this season?
8:53–10:13
6
How are new driving techniques affecting performance in F1?
10:13–12:52
7
What midfield team has surprised the most during testing?
12:52–15:00
8
What are the implications of Alpine's innovative rear wing design?
15:00–22:21