Bahrain Test Week 1: Rankings, Reactions, and the Memes That Broke F1 Twitter
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About this listen
The first Bahrain pre-season test is done — three days of drama, driver revolt, and memes. Verstappen called the cars "Formula E on steroids" and liked the memes trashing them. Hamilton hit a 20-year low. And a 19-year-old topped the timesheets. We rank every team from 11 to 1, break down driver reactions, and cover everything that went viral.
Topics covered:
- Driver revolt: Verstappen, Hamilton, and Norris slam the 2026 cars
- Viral moments: Verstappen likes the memes, start procedure chaos
- The compression ratio controversy reshaping the season
- Aston Martin's 206-lap disaster and Newey's uphill battle
- Cadillac's impressive debut (with fake Pirelli tires)
- Racing Bulls, Williams, and Audi's radical B-spec sidepods
- Alpine's Mercedes engine gamble paying off
- Haas and Bearman's surprise rise to P5
- Red Bull Ford engine "the benchmark" — but Verstappen wants out
- McLaren's papaya pain: world champions falling to third
- Ferrari's Leclerc-Hamilton divide and the engineer shake-up
- Mercedes #1: Antonelli fastest, but reliability a question mark
- Championship predictions for 2026
- Five key takeaways the headlines are missing
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:41 - Driver revolt: Verstappen's "Formula E on steroids"
01:43 - Hamilton's 20-year low, Norris "F2 machinery"
02:47 - Viral moments: memes, start procedure chaos
04:08 - Compression ratio controversy
05:12 - #11 Aston Martin
07:01 - #10 Cadillac
08:16 - #9 Racing Bulls
09:21 - #8 Williams
10:34 - #7 Audi
11:48 - #6 Alpine
13:01 - #5 Haas
14:12 - #4 Red Bull
15:55 - #3 McLaren
17:58 - #2 Ferrari
20:34 - #1 Mercedes
22:50 - Championship predictions
23:34 - Five key takeaways
25:02 - Sign-off
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