Toto Wolff has installed Red Bull as the new “benchmark” team for 2026, claiming Max Verstappen was able to go “a-second-a-lap” faster than everyone else on the straights on the opening morning of testing in Bahrain on Tuesday. Speaking during the lunch break in Bahrain testing, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell had engaged in a long-run head-to-head on the opening morning, Wolff said the compression-ratio loophole was worth no more than “a few horsepower, maybe 2-3bhp”. Red Bull’s superior energy deployment, on the other hand, was worth far more. “They [Red Bull] are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else,” Wolff said. “I mean, I’m speaking a second per lap, over consecutive laps.”

Source: The Times February 11, 2026 17:19 UTC