F1MATHS: Mercedes leads early reliability picture as teams rack up mileage

The opening four days of the five‑day Barcelona shakedown offered the first meaningful glimpse into the reliability and operational readiness of the 2026 Formula One field.

Although the event is officially classified as a “shakedown” rather than a full pre‑season test, the extended running window and stable weather conditions allowed teams to accumulate substantial mileage and begin validating their new‑generation power units and chassis concepts.

From a purely quantitative standpoint, Mercedes emerged as the clear leader. Across its customer teams, the German manufacturer logged 806 laps, corresponding to 3,753.54 kilometres. That figure not only placed Mercedes comfortably ahead of the field but also underscored the maturity of its power unit package at this early stage.

High mileage in a shakedown typically reflects robust cooling architecture, stable hybrid deployment strategies, and well‑integrated software — all areas where Mercedes appeared to arrive with a refined baseline.

Ferrari‑powered teams completed the second‑highest workload, amassing 603 laps and 2,808.17 kilometres. While not matching Mercedes’ volume, Ferrari’s tally still represents a solid and representative programme, giving the Scuderia and its customers ample data for correlation work. The early signs suggest a power unit that is behaving predictably, with no major reliability interruptions reported.

RBPT (Red Bull Powertrains) followed with 504 laps and 2,347.13 kilometres. The mileage is slightly lower than Ferrari’s but still sufficient to begin mapping out the characteristics of the revised hybrid system. Given the scale of the regulatory shift for 2026, RBPT’s numbers place them in a comfortable middle ground: not headline‑grabbing, but far from concerning.

Audi’s first official appearance as a power unit supplier resulted in 95 laps and 442.42 kilometres. While modest, the figure is not unexpected for a debuting manufacturer integrating a brand‑new engine into a chassis for the first time.

Early‑stage system checks, calibration work, and inevitable teething issues tend to dominate such outings, and Audi’s engineers will likely view the initial running as a foundation rather than a performance indicator.

The outlier of the week was Honda, whose cars completed only 4 laps, totalling 18.63 kilometres. The minimal running suggests either a planned systems‑only outing or a significant issue that curtailed track time. With one day remaining in the shakedown, Honda will be under pressure to gather at least baseline data before the teams head into the more structured pre‑season tests.