Formula 1 teams used to be able to test whenever they liked throughout the season and would regularly be spotted in Barcelona, Magny-Cours and Mugello as they looked to continuously improve their cars.
The current set of regulations no longer allows that to happen due to cost cap restrictions and instead, three days of pre-season testing are all that the drivers get before heading to the Australian Grand Prix.
Each manufacturer will be thankful that the number of testing days will triple in 2026 when a new set of regulations are introduced to the sport.
However, while the cars have only been slightly tweaked this year, there are plenty of drivers in new environments quickly trying to learn about their new cars.
Lewis Hamilton is the most high-profile driver racing for a new team, but half of the grid has changed over the winter.
One team who have changed names as well as their overall line-up is Racing Bulls.
Formally known as RB, AlphaTauri, Toro Rosso and originally Minardi, they were caught in the crossfire of Red Bull’s driver changes over the winter as Sergio Perez was released to make way for Liam Lawson.
Yuki Tsunoda was overlooked by Red Bull but will be joined by Isack Hadjar off the back of a successful Formula 2 campaign.
Alex Brundle says Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls ‘didn’t sound too healthy’ during F1 testing
Alex Brundle was reporting in the pit lane during the afternoon session of the first day of testing in Bahrain.
It was the turn of Hadjar in the Racing Bulls after Tsunoda drove in the morning and the Frenchman had a relatively uneventful day except for an early spin.
As the youngster went to leave the pit lane, Brundle noted: “A couple of other notes from the pit lane. V-CARB or Racing Bulls as we’re now calling them.
“They just left the pit lane, didn’t sound too healthy at all.
READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation
“He’s carried on with his run though, so obviously not too much wrong there.”
What Alex Brundle said about Isack Hadjar during his Formula 2 campaign
Hadjar missed out on winning the Formula 2 championship last year to new Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto.
It came down to the final feature race, but when Hadjar’s car didn’t get off the line, he knew his chance of beating the Brazilian was over.
However, earlier in the Formula 2 season while speaking on Sky Sports F1, Brundle was discussing the championship battle between the pair of rookies.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know
During the Italian Grand Prix race weekend – before the Frenchman’s future was decided – he said: “165 points at this stage, 129 points for Gabriel Bortoleto, looking strong for the rest of the season, [he] needs to carry on with this form.
“But realistically, he’s doing everything he can do, both inside the car and outside the car, where I think he’s made great strides Hadjar, actually in the way that he carries himself in the paddock in the way that he is over the radio and the way that he’s managing interviews like the one we just saw.
“And he’s doing a great job to put himself in the shop window.”
Hadjar will hope that the reason that his car didn’t sound healthy during his first session of testing doesn’t suggest that there’s a problem that could persist as the season goes on.
Helmut Marko has called Hadjar the mini Alain Prost and he’ll be desperate to try and live up to that tag as quickly as possible.
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