[Saba Sports News] The 2026 season pre-season testing officially kicked off in Barcelona. On the first day of operations under the new technical regulations, reliability became the most intuitive barometer both inside and outside the paddock. After the first day of testing, Red Bull and Ferrari’s new power units received praise from Mercedes driver George Russell for their outstanding completion rates, making them the standout performers in the early stages. On the first testing day, the RB22 equipped with the Red Bull power unit was driven by Isack Hadjar and topped the unofficial timing charts. What drew significant attention wasn’t just the lap times but the substantial mileage completed by Red Bull from a zero baseline. Notably, this was the first complete F1 power unit independently launched by Red Bull’s power unit division, maintaining stable operations even without any prior public races, which impressed Russell. Over the past four years, Red Bull has continuously invested resources in developing its power unit division, and their stable performance in this debut under the new regulations is seen as a reflection of their progress. In addition to Red Bull, the Haas team, which uses Ferrari power units, also completed over 150 laps of high-intensity running, a fact that Russell highlighted as well. From my perspective, the overall stability shown by Red Bull and Ferrari is completely different from the chaotic situation during the last major engine changes. Today, F1 has reached a higher standard of technical maturity and execution, and both teams clearly have gained an early advantage, likely positioning them for better results in the new season.