The complexity of F1's 2026 rules overhaul is such that teams requested an extra shakedown on top of two three-day tests in Bahrain to prepare for the start of the season in Melbourne in March.
The new power units, with a much bigger reliance on a more powerful electric MGU-K system, caused such nerves that they requested the Barcelona shakedown behind closed doors, with Bahrain also understood to have paid for the privilege to host official winter testing.
