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Autosport
Autosport

McLaren: Ferrari and Mercedes are top of early F1 2026 pecking order

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella admitted Mercedes and Ferrari "were quicker than us" in race simulations at the first pre-season test in Bahrain, and also believes Red Bull will be in the mix.

As teams dug into long runs on Thursday and Friday, the fog of war surrounding pre-season testing was lifted little by little. While there are still a lot of question marks over the exact pecking order, what has been a common observation is that there is a clear lead group featuring the traditional four top teams – Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.

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