Three of the most controversial episodes occurred in F1 pre-season testing
Over the years, Formula 1 pre-season testing has delivered a series of dramatic twists and controversial moments that have come under intense scrutiny.
With just over two weeks to go until the five-day test at Barcelona gets underway, the 2026 season is set to make its official debut amid huge uncertainty, with cars that are set to be radically different from last year.
The Montmeló test will be just the first leg of a three-part testing programme, which will continue in Bahrain with two sessions — the first from February 11 to 13 and the second from February 18 to 20 — before the paddock packs up and heads to Melbourne for the season-opening race.
There is huge anticipation to see, first and foremost, what the 2026 cars will look like — and whether anyone will pull a rabbit out of the hat and blow the competition away, as has happened in testing in the past.
2015: Alonso’s mysterious crash in Barcelona
Alonso’s return to McLaren for his second stint as a two-time world champion quickly took a worrying turn during pre-season testing in Barcelona, following a strange accident that was never fully explained.
Coming out of Turn 3 at what appeared to be a manageable speed, his MP4-30 abruptly drifted to the right and hit the concrete wall. There was no wheel-to-wheel contact, no clear driver error and no obvious sign of the car snapping out of control, with the shallow impact angle only deepening the uncertainty around what had happened.
Although the speed at impact was estimated at around 150 km/h, the crash was serious enough to trigger immediate medical attention. Alonso was taken to the circuit’s medical centre before being moved to the hospital, where he remained under observation for three nights. The incident ruled him out of the remainder of testing and even forced him to sit out the opening round of the season in Australia.
2020: Mercedes’ W11 steals the spotlight with its DAS system
DAS (Dual Axis Steering) first surfaced during pre-season testing in Barcelona in 2020 and quickly became the talking point of the paddock, even though Mercedes’ W11 looked largely conventional on the outside.
The idea was as clever as it was simple. By pushing or pulling the steering wheel, the driver could change the toe angle of the front wheels: straighten them on the straights, then return to the usual setting for the corners. The result was lower drag, better tyre temperature control and more consistent warm-up, particularly on out-laps and restarts.
It didn’t take long for rivals to catch on. Onboard footage revealed Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas making an unusual forward-and-back movement with the steering wheel — something you simply don’t see in a normal F1 car. The FIA deemed DAS legal for 2020, but moved to shut it down a year later.
2020: the ‘Pink Mercedes’ controversy
The Racing Point RP20 caused an immediate stir for its close resemblance to Mercedes’ 2019 title-winning W10. What initially raised eyebrows during pre-season testing in Barcelona quickly escalated into a full-blown controversy once the championship got underway and official protests followed.
Quickly labelled the “Pink Mercedes”, the car’s distinctive livery only highlighted how closely its design mirrored that of the W10. Racing Point maintained it had stayed within the rules, pointing to the lawful purchase of Mercedes components in 2019 and the use of publicly available images as the basis for its design, arguing the car was reverse-engineered rather than copied.
The result was a significant leap in performance on track, but also a regulatory headache. While the FIA ruled the car legal at the time, it moved to tighten the rules for 2021, requiring teams to demonstrate full intellectual ownership of their listed parts. That car allowed Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll to finish the season fourth in the constructors’ championship.
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