Ten new cars, five days, no fans.
Formula 1 starts a new era with the public and the media excluded from its private testing session in Spain starting Monday.
It's hard to imagine a bigger contrast to last year's lavish launch party that involved 16,000 fans and famous faces in London.
Mercedes was one of the first teams on track Monday, F1 said, along with Alpine and Audi, which took part in its first official F1 event since it was renamed from Sauber.
F1 has an 11th team this year as Cadillac makes its debut, but only 10 will be in Spain after Williams hit delays getting its car ready.
There won't be TV coverage, except brief clips from F1's own broadcaster, or official results from the five-day test this week, so it'll be hard to gauge who's got a head start on F1's new regulations. The second test in Bahrain next month is when the focus switches to performance.
So why is F1 blocking fans from seeing the new cars on track?
F1 originally referred to this week's event as a “private test" but now calls it the “Barcelona Shakedown,” a term usually used for short-distance runs to check basic reliability, not the sort of multi-day extended tests in Spain.
That change reflects concerns that some all-new designs might not be reliable enough to make a positive first impression.
Bahrain has a long-running agreement to hold preseason testing and its warm weather is more representative of real races. Downgrading Barcelona may keep more attention on Bahrain, which has the first live TV coverage of cars doing timed laps.
Some teams, like Ferrari, have revealed 2026 designs and given them brief track time using exemptions for distance-limited promotional events, but plan major changes before the first race in Australia in March.
Defending champion McLaren is unusual for signaling its Barcelona design will be close to race specification. McLaren will skip Monday's running “in order to give as much time as possible to the development of the car,” team principal Andrea Stella said last week.
Others, including Red Bull, had until now only showed new paint jobs on imitation cars, making the first runs in Barcelona an especially crucial stage in development.
Teams can run on three out of five days in Spain, giving them time to fix problems without losing ground, so McLaren's delayed start isn't a setback.
With all-new engines, battery systems and smaller, lighter cars, reliability is a bigger concern than it has been for years.
The last time the rules changed this much, the first preseason test was a disaster.
Cars broke down frequently on the first day of testing at the remote Jerez circuit in 2014 as teams got to grips with the new turbocharged hybrid V6 engines, and Lewis Hamilton beached his Mercedes in a gravel trap. The problems eventually shook out over the season and Hamilton ended the year as champion.
F1 has become a very different sport in the 12 years since then, though. Netflix series “Drive To Survive” brought in a new influx of fans used to detailed broadcasts and all-access social media content.
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The new Audi Revolut F1 car is presented ahead of the 2026 Formula One season, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Britain's Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he steers his Ferrari Formula One SF-26 at the Ferrari private test track, in Fiorano Modenese, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti has had to mature quickly to get into an Australian Open quarterfinal for the first time, and to be facing Novak Djokovic.
The 23-year-old Italian is without two members of his support team in Melbourne after both had to return home to deal with personal issues.
Musetti also had to leave his partner, Veronica, and two little boys at home within weeks of the birth of his second son in November.
Having to deal with so much going on off the court has Musetti finely tuned to focus when he goes to work. On Monday, that was a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 9 Taylor Fritz, the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up.
“I feel more mature on the court. I’m playing better for that, and for them,” he said.
The support team in Melbourne isn't as big, but they've found a way to make things work.
“I think we are doing a great job, because the week before the start of the tournament, a lot of things happened,” Musetti said. “I think that maybe that helped me to be a better version of myself also on the court.
“I felt that also today. So I’m really, really proud. I want to continue to honor the team that is at home.”
He said his 13 aces and 86% first serve points won in the fourth round inspired one of the best serving performances of his career.
His win over an ailing Fritz completed a set of Grand Slam quarterfinals for Musetti, who is just the third player born since 2000 to achieve a set of all four following fellow Italian Jannik Sinner and top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
He said he still has half of his support team working with him, and he's keeping in touch with home across the time zones.
“I didn’t get much sleep in the offseason. But we found a way to work and to practice really well on and off the court,” Musetti added, speaking of his newborn son. “Now it’s more than 20 days that I’m alone and it’s not easy, but I feel their presence also here.”
His next mission is against a well-rested and rejuvenated Djokovic, who has won a record 10 Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at Melbourne in each of the last two years.
The 24-time major winner had been scheduled to be the feature night match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday but had a walkover into the quarterfinals after his opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew from their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.
Musetti said the hardest things about playing Djokovic in Australia, where he's won so many titles, are his sheer willpower and his deep experience in the conditions.
“Facing his character, his status as a player and as a champion,” Musetti said. Then “of course the way he turns around sometimes from (a) difficult situation, raising his level, never escaping from a match.”
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts after defeating Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti, left, of Italy, is congratulated by Taylor Fritz of the U.S. following his victory in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Taylor Fritz of the U.S. reacts as he plays against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy reacts as he plays against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
