The first F1 test days in Barcelona are over! Friday brought the five-day shakedown to a close. Over the past week a large portion of the paddock ran their new 2026 machinery. Behind closed doors the cars were thoroughly put through their paces. On Friday no fewer than eight teams were still on track, including Red Bull. After team-mate Isack Hadjar’s crash earlier in the week, Max Verstappen was able to resume his programme on the final day.
All teams were allocated three days this week to test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Heavy rain pushed many outfits to postpone running until the end of the week, which left eight teams on track on Friday. At 08:00 UTC sharp Max Verstappen was first to appear at the end of the pit lane. The Dutchman enjoyed a productive morning; in his brand-new RB22 he completed 69 laps.
Teams put in the miles
Charles Leclerc also had a solid session. On the soft compound he cautiously closed in on Mercedes’ benchmark times. The Silberpfeile were absent from the circuit on Friday; they had wrapped up their very successful shakedown on Thursday. Aston Martin was back in action as well, this time with Fernando Alonso at the wheel. After a handful of laps on Thursday the British stable put in heavy running on Friday in Barcelona. Oliver Bearman, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas also took turns behind the wheel. In the morning running Haas were the only team to exceed one hundred laps, although overall teams spent a lot of time on track.
In the afternoon several teams still had driver swaps on the schedule. Piastri, Bortoleto, Bearman and Leclerc made way for Lando Norris, Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton respectively. During these final hours at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya it stayed conspicuously quiet. Little came out of the paddock, other than Norris posting the fastest time of the day. With a 1:16.594 he remained slower than George Russell, who holds the quickest time of the week.
Hamilton quickest
His teammate meanwhile confirmed that McLaren had fixed Thursday’s fuel issues. “It was nice to get some good laps in,” Piastri reflected on his morning session to F1.com. “This was a much better day than the first two. I found a good rhythm and could get used to the new car. I’ve already tried to introduce a few improvements and tested different setups. All in all it was a reasonably successful session.”
After a notably quiet afternoon session the first shakedown was winding down, though a last-minute update did arrive from the circuit. Lewis Hamilton reportedly dove beneath George Russell’s best with a 1:16.348. At exactly 18:00 UTC this private test week concluded, with — according to sources at the circuit — the quickest time going to Hamilton. Max Verstappen enjoyed a trouble-free day in Barcelona. Free of technical gremlins, the Dutchman put 118 laps on the board in his Red Bull RB22. Gasly covered the most mileage; he logged as many as 160 laps.
