25 drivers use mix of 2025 cars and 2026 mule chassis in season-closing F1 test – RaceFans
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| Written by Keith Collantine
A mixture of 2025-specification Formula 1 cars and ‘mule’ chassis intended to mimic the new rules for 2026 shared the track on the final day of testing.
F1 teams divided their running between regular drivers in 2026 test hacks and young drivers in current cars. Five members of the latter group set the fastest times, headed by Jak Crawford for Aston Martin.
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The 2026 mule cars fitted with the outgoing Drag Reduction System were limited to a maximum speed of 300kph. Those using next year’s ‘Straight Line Mode’ were not speed-limited and were able to lower their wings in designated SLM activation zones around the Yas Marina circuit.
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli was quickest of those in the 2026 development cars. He also covered the most laps of anyone over the nine hours of running. Antonelli completed 157 tours of the track, more than two-and-a-half 58-lap grand prix distances.
New world champion Lando Norris was among those in action, sporting the number four for the last time before he switches to the champion’s number one next year. He shared McLaren’s 2026 mule car with team mate Oscar Piastri.
The drivers ran Pirelli’s definitive range of new, smaller tyres for the 2026 season. “By using the same mule cars as during the development tests, with the same speed limits, teams were easily able to compare the data captured in Yas Marina with that from the individual test days over the last few months,” said Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola.
“For our engineers, this test was fundamental to confirm the performance gaps between the compounds and the degradation levels, which has been the focus of our work throughout the year. Analysing the new tyres, which have a smaller footprint against the surface, has also allowed us to check their exposure to graining and overheating: two effects that can potentially increase due to the smaller surface area.”
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*Young Drivers’ Test – 2025 car
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chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
9th December 2025, 17:14
Whatever happened to the proposed ‘Young Driver’ spirit race that was mooted towards the end of last year?
Jere (@jerejj)
9th December 2025, 17:28
Several non-regulars without a single race start in the stats still participated.
Simon
9th December 2025, 17:29
“Quietly dropped”, I would think
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
9th December 2025, 18:37
@chimaera2003 Provisionally planned for 2027, so that the new regulations have chance to settle first.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th December 2025, 17:33
Ayumu Iwasa probably drove a Red Bull F1 car for the last time & of course, the SLM activation zone approach was only a one-off thing for this test, as moveable aero will be available at all times throughout a lap in all sessions in green-flag conditions.
The same for manual override mode, except a trailing driver temporarily receives more boost to utilize in races & sprints than the driver ahead in close combat from a pre-selected point onwards.
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