Today was the final day of the Barcelona Shakedown for the team, how would you summarise how the week has gone?

Steve Nielsen: "This was the first of three tests this year, so it's a really busy schedule for us. We shook the car down in Silverstone before we came here and probably left with more questions than answers, but we've been able to come here and work through some of that and find solutions, particularly with energy recovery, which will be a steep learning curve for us and all teams for that matter. The feedback and input of the drivers is vital to that and learning about these new cars which have much higher straight-line speeds we've not seen before, as well as less downforce in the corners. So, there's a lot to learn for teams up and down the paddock. Luckily the weather has held up for most of this week and with the days we chose to run, we had effectively dry running and covered lots of milage and managed to collect useful data. We leave Barcelona having ticked off some boxes and will look to continue that trend in Bahrain in a few weeks' time."

The 2026 season sees one of the biggest shake-ups with the regulations in recent history, how has the team adapted to that?
SN: "Well, there's new regulations and also a new PU supplier for us, so an awful lot to learn and I'm sure most of the other teams are doing the same stuff and getting to know the nuances of the new components in terms of energy deployment and recovery. We have spent weeks and months working on this generation of car and working together with Mercedes on the Power Unit side. So, nothing has come as a surprise but there's nothing like doing it for real and getting to know new team members and integrating them. This week has primarily been about going through systems and procedures and getting familiar with the car, not just for the team but the drivers also."

It was a very short winter, and this week was a step into the unknown for everyone, has everything gone as planned?
SN: "On the first day on Monday, we didn't quite do as many laps or get the mileage we wanted, which was to be expected with a completely new car. But we steadily ramped up across the week and covered 764km on the final day, which gives us a lot to look through ahead of Bahrain. We're pretty much on target in terms of where we wanted to be with number of laps covered and have been going through procedural things and basic set-up changes to see how the car responds."

Overall, how do you rate this week in Barcelona and can you read anything into performance or lap times at this stage?
SN: "Everyone is sat there looking at data and lap times and trying to guess what fuel loads and engine modes people are running. But ultimately you only know your own and can only speculate about others. It's far too early to read anything into it. I very much doubt many teams have shown their hand or done any real competitive running. We'll probably have a better idea of where things stack up once we see and analyse race runs in Bahrain and see where we land. We know the team has put a lot of effort in, but we aren't getting carried away and are realistic in our expectations. Our goal this coming season is to be more competitive and see a sustained recovery of performance, not just at the start of the year but across the entire season."

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