Friday, May 22nd - With the opening Grand Prix of the 2026 season fast approaching, teams are undertaking vital practice and preparations for what promises to be one of the most hotly contested races F1H2O has hosted. Among the teams gearing up for Cagliari is Team Abu Dhabi, who have been conducting boat tests and training all week at their logistical hub in San Nazzaro, Italy. We joined them for one such day, gaining an insight into how the team and drivers are feeling ahead of the season’s start.
The day started bright and early at 8am, and it was the team’s latest signing who was first to take to the water. Jonas Andersson already has three World Championships to his name and came within an inch of clinching a fourth last season. Having lost out by the finest of margins to Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente, the Swede decided something had to change for the forthcoming season and committed to Victory Team’s fellow Emirati rivals, Team Abu Dhabi.
“I have been discussing a move with Team Abu Dhabi for a couple of years,” revealed Andersson, “and for this season everything felt perfect.”
His move means Andersson will now be working under the Championship’s most decorated driver, Guido Cappellini, who has a mighty ten titles to his name.
“With Guido’s experience and my experience together, I think we can have a super good season,” added Andersson.
More specifically, Andersson spoke about the additional insights he and his team had been missing in previous years, highlighting the improvements in telemetry and racing data that Team Abu Dhabi is able to offer him.
Once Andersson was done whizzing around the vast Po River, it was the turn of another new Team Abu Dhabi face to take to the water: Rashed Al Qemzi. The Emirati driver made his debut with the team in 2017, became a regular during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but was absent last year. This season, he returns full-time, keen to emulate the great success he has enjoyed in the F2 category at the sport’s highest level.
“I am happy with the results here in testing,” Al Qemzi said of his time in San Nazzaro.
Hitting the water straight after a driver as successful as Andersson may seem daunting, but Al Qemzi sees the positives in having a multiple World Champion as a team-mate.
“I am happy Jonas is with us. I learn from him and sometimes, when I don’t know something, I just ask Jonas and he tells me, ‘do one, two, three’,” Al Qemzi gesticulated, “and he motivates me.”
A lunch break then interrupted the day’s boat testing, giving the team a chance to bond and reflect on their performances over a banquet of traditional Italian food. The Swedish duo of Erik Stark and new team-mate Andersson were deep in conversation, their strong rapport a testament to a sporting friendship that stretches far beyond this season’s racing partnership. For Stark, this is exactly the kind of refreshed set-up needed after a season to forget.
“Last season was a bad year, both for me and for the team. For me, it was my worst season in F1H2O since I started,” Stark confessed frankly.
But the Swede is already putting those disappointing results behind him and adopting an air of optimism.
“We know what we did wrong last year and we have already changed it. The feeling now is so much better and the speed is much higher, so I’m very hopeful for this year.”
Another reason for hope is Andersson’s arrival at the team, something Stark is delighted about.
“Jonas is a fantastic friend and he has so much knowledge about boats and engines. Take his knowledge together with everything the team knows – Guido, [Team Abu Dhabi mechanics] Attilio and Giacomo and everyone else – and I don’t think you can have better people behind you.”
Guido Cappellini was his usual serene and diligent self throughout the day, attentively examining the data coming back from the testing sessions. The Team Abu Dhabi manager seemed especially pleased with Andersson’s performance, hoping these early signs are already a vindication of his efforts to bring the multiple World Champion into the team as they aim to reclaim the sport’s top spot.
But minds were more focused on the immediate future than the season’s conclusion, with preparations already turning towards the upcoming Grand Prix in Cagliari on May 29-31. Cappellini returns to Cagliari with happy memories, having won four Grand Prix there during his illustrious career, adding that “for me, Sardinia is my second home, so I’m more than happy to come back to Cagliari.”
