Teams Get Green Light To Test 2025 F1 Cars In 2026

Formula 1 teams will be allowed to use one-year-old 2025 cars for their ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ (TPC) programs next year.

The usual TPC rules demand cars be two years old for track runs, often for young drivers, but 2026’s big rule shake-up changes that.

Auto Motor und Sport reports this could sting teams swapping engine suppliers. Sauber, now Ferrari-powered, goes Audi in 2026. “Ferrari is not particularly interested in continuing to provide Sauber with engines for the 2025 car because Audi would then have a benchmark and might get too much information from a competitor’s product,” journalist Michael Schmidt revealed. “And even if Maranello were to agree, the price would be so high that one has to ask whether it is worth it. There is talk of $3-5 million per engine.”

Aston Martin, ditching Mercedes for Honda in 2026, isn’t fazed. “But they are not put off by the high costs,” Schmidt said, “especially as it is not part of the budget cap. Mercedes has only one condition. Aston Martin must run its TPC program from an external building with a separate team, thus clearly distinguishing itself from the operational team that is supplied with engines by Honda.”

Alpine’s flipping from Renault to Mercedes power. “A small group of Renault engineers will be available at Viry-Chatillon for the TPC tests, who will look after the 2025 (Renault) power units before the 2026 Alpine-Mercedes can be used in 2028,” Schmidt explained.

Red Bull’s trickier—they’re crafting their own engines with Ford as Honda jumps ship. “There is an agreement (with Honda) for the future,” team advisor Dr Helmut Marko contended.