Rob Marshall Surprised by Tight 2026 F1 Grid

Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Rob Marshall has admitted he is surprised by how closely matched the 2026 Formula 1 grid appears following running in Barcelona and Bahrain, as McLaren prepares for the new power unit era.

Prior to the introduction of the 2026 regulations, Mercedes was widely tipped to hold an early advantage. However, after the five-day Barcelona shakedown and the opening day of official testing in Bahrain, it is Red Bull Racing that has attracted significant attention, particularly through the long-run pace of Max Verstappen.

In Spain, Lewis Hamilton set the quickest lap for Ferrari, while Lando Norris topped the timesheets on the first day in Bahrain. The spread of headline lap times across different teams has reinforced the impression of competitive balance.

Marshall acknowledged that he had expected at least one team to arrive with a clearly superior package under the sweeping regulation changes.

“To be perfectly honest, what I thought stood out the most is actually how competitive it looks,” Marshall told select media, including RacingNews365.

“Actually, I thought there was a very high chance that someone was going to come along with some package that aces it from the off. And it looks like that hasn't happened.”

While he cautioned that performance assessment remains difficult due to varied testing programmes, Marshall noted that race-distance simulations begin to reveal broader performance trends.

“Especially when people start doing race distances, you sort of see more general trends of performance,” he explained. “It looks like there’s a good gaggle of cars that are very competitive.”

With Red Bull demonstrating strong energy deployment, Ferrari maintaining solid simulator correlation, and McLaren opting for continuity in its early-season aerodynamic package, the early signs suggest a tightly contested start to 2026. Marshall expects no team to dominate immediately, indicating the championship fight may develop over a sustained campaign rather than being decided early.