Technical analysis and first images from the Melbourne pitlane

We’re back at the starting line for a season that promises to be as thrilling as it is chaotic. As every year, our pages feature a series of pre-GP guides: six detailed articles covering everything from TV and streaming schedules to FIA technical update tables and analyses of pitlane images captured by our team or other prominent F1 reporters.

Let’s start with a quick overview of the track. Melbourne opens the season with a circuit that has always been tricky. Albert Park (5.278 km) is a true street circuit built on roads normally open to traffic. The asphalt is extremely smooth, grip increases quickly session by session, and car behavior can change rapidly. The layout alternates between fast straights and low- to medium-speed corners around the lake, forcing teams to find crucial compromises between top speed and the need to avoid a twitchy car under braking and during slow exits.

The first key point is tire management. In 2026, tires have changed: overall footprint and diameter are smaller, while 18” wheels remain. In Melbourne, Pirelli brings the three softest compounds: C3 as hard, C4 as medium, and C5 as soft (the same choice as the last two seasons). As Mario Isola confirmed in our exclusive interview, this year degradation will depend more on wear and overheating than on graining issues.

The second theme is braking. Albert Park isn’t the harshest circuit on brakes, but it has some critical peaks: turn 11 remains the most demanding, dropping from about 288 to 138 km/h. A braking point that can decide overtakes or ruin a stint if the car isn’t stable, especially with a full fuel tank. At the start of the season, when setups are not yet refined, driver confidence entering corners is crucial.

2026 also introduces a major “spectacle” feature that changes the technical reading of the weekend: active aerodynamics. In Melbourne, there will be five “Straight Mode” zones where the low-drag setup can be used: the main straight, the section between the first chicane and turn 3, the stretch from turn 6 to 9-10, the long straight to turn 11, and a short zone between turns 5 and 6. Alongside Straight Mode, a new overtaking mode debuts: detection point just after the penultimate corner, with activation before the final corner. Drivers can use 0.5 MJ extra for a short burst of maximum power. During testing, the FIA deliberately limited the advantage to ensure overtakes still require skillful setup and positioning on exit.

Let’s now see how the teams prepared for both new and traditional challenges through images captured by leading reporters at Melbourne. This article is constantly updated, so check back for new images and analyses.

Meanwhile, due to the Middle East conflict, Ferrari’s equipment arrived late on the circuit, so mechanics were granted permission to work past the usual night curfew, normally prohibiting work on the car after a certain hour.

Ferrari

Here are the first images of the Ferrari that will compete in the season opener. On the SF-26, most of the chassis is left “bare” carbon, and the undercuts on the sidepods are very pronounced.

As previously mentioned, the SF-26 brought to Australia is in “base configuration,” without the macarena wing, but with the FTM winglet in front of the exhaust (slightly smaller than the one seen in Bahrain). Minor modification on the floor winglet, slightly taller than in Bahrain.

McLaren

On the MCL40, attention has been paid to the diffuser area, echoing concepts first seen on Ferrari. Unable to exploit the space in front of the exhaust due to different packaging and regulations, the papaya car features two small fins near the crash box.