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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F1 Burnouts — Your weekly dose of Formula 1 passion, engineering deep-dives, and honest takes.

#F1 #Formula1 #Podcast #Motorsport #Racing #F1Testing #Bahrain2026

The FIA hands ten Formula One teams a brand new rulebook. Same rules, same pages, same words. And what do these teams do? They come back with ten completely different looking cars. One team flipped their rear wing upside down. Another showed up to testing with an entirely different car. And Adrian Newey designed something so radical a rival driver called it spectacular.

Topics covered:

- 2026 active aero regulations explained (X-mode & Z-mode)

- Adrian Newey's radical AMR26 and the 4-month wind tunnel delay

- Mercedes' rising sidepods and the zeropod trust issues

- Front wing nose pylon innovation (Mercedes & Aston Martin outliers)

- Williams' unique split suspension and the Vowles effect

- Alpine's "ghost wing" reverse rear wing activation

- Audi's B-spec sidepod bombshell at Bahrain testing

- Red Bull's extreme sealed diffuser approach

- McLaren's triangle floor solution

- Ferrari testing active aero in the rain

- Outwash vs inwash: the fundamental aero philosophy split

- Why the corner-to-straight transition will decide the championship

Timestamps:

00:00 - Opening hook

00:41 - Active aero regulations explained

01:32 - Why 2026 divergence is special

02:18 - Adrian Newey's Aston Martin story

02:58 - The four-month miracle and Russell's reaction

03:40 - AMR26's radical suspension

04:23 - Newey's nonchalance vs reliability concerns

05:09 - Mercedes and zeropod trust issues

05:46 - Mercedes' rising sidepod philosophy

06:35 - Front wing nose pylon innovation

07:20 - Williams' underdog story

07:55 - Williams hiding their suspension

08:33 - Alpine's ghost wing

09:20 - Alpine's endplate engineering

10:06 - Audi's B-spec Bahrain reveal

10:46 - Audi's fighter jet air scoops

11:29 - Red Bull's sealed diffuser

12:09 - McLaren's floor work

12:51 - Ferrari's wet-weather active aero gambit

13:37 - Who's right? The big picture

14:19 - Hot take: the transition moment

15:02 - The human element behind the engineering

15:49 - Reality check on pre-season predictions

16:25 - Sign-off

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F1 Burnouts - Your weekly dose of Formula 1 passion, engineering deep-dives, and honest takes.

#F1 #Formula1 #Podcast #Motorsport #Racing #F1Burnouts #Aero #2026

Welcome back to F1 Burnouts! Today we're diving into something that's going to blow your engineering-loving minds. We're talking about the 2026 power unit regulations — and trust me, the drama behind these engines is almost as good as the racing. We've got loopholes, we've got betrayals, we've got a company that literally gutted their entire F1 programme and is now scrambling to build an engine in less than a year.

Topics covered:

• The 2026 power unit regulations and MGU-H removal
• The compression ratio loophole exploited by Mercedes and Red Bull
• Mercedes' four-team data advantage
• Ferrari's lightweight steel alloy innovation
• Alpine's catastrophic shutdown and Renault's exit
• Honda's struggles rebuilding for Aston Martin
• Audi and Mattia Binotto's three-phase plan
• Cadillac/GM's 2028 power unit ambitions
• Barcelona shakedown test results and predictions

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro and 2026 engine basics

03:30 - The compression ratio loophole

06:45 - Mercedes' four-team advantage

08:15 - Ferrari's steel alloy innovation

09:00 - Alpine shutdown and Renault exit

09:54 - Honda/Aston Martin struggles

13:00 - Audi and Binotto's plan

15:00 - Cadillac/GM speculation

17:01 - Barcelona shakedown results

20:30 - Predictions and sign-off

F1 Burnouts - Your weekly dose of Formula 1 passion, engineering deep-dives, and honest takes.

#F1 #Formula1 #Podcast #Motorsport #Racing #F1Burnouts