The first day is in the books of Barcelona shakedown to start F1 2026, with seven teams and nine drivers in action amid tight security.
Considering it is a closed shakedown, F1 were proactive to close all the loopholes to disallow any coverage, whether from fans or even journalists lurking around the Barcelona circuit. An unofficial timing page popped in the morning hours, but the FOM were quick to disable it.
As a result, there was no timing page up in the afternoon period. Around the circuit, security was beefed up to disallow any movements to capture any moment, whether as photo or video. F1 wants to keep the shakedown as secretive as possible, a move similar to how testing was done in the past.
It wasn’t as strict considering security allowed some movement around the circuit in the past. Nevertheless, teams and even F1 posted photos and small videos throughout the day, where seven teams hit the track on Day 1, with as many as nine drivers in action.
Teams have three days from the five allotted days to run their 2026 cars. All the 10 teams will be part of it except Williams, who pulled out from any track running. Additionally, Aston Martin confirmed its presence, but only for two days on Thursday and Friday – thereby missing one day’s of action.
The day saw multiple red flags – the reasons are unknown at the moment. But the likes of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto seemed to be guilty party. The Brazilian noted about few gremlins, but the remaining two managed to do more running.
It was a first proper run of new power units, especially for Red Bull Powertrains Ford and Audi, while Mercedes had a decent outing as well, with Ferrari being represented by Haas and Cadillac. Unofficial times showed Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar as fastest with a time of 1m18.159s.
It is unclear what tyres he set the time on but unofficial lap count saw him complete 107, which was second behind Haas’ Esteban Ocon (1m21.301s, P5), who completed 153 laps. Audi courtesy Bortoleto found itself in P8 with a time of 1m25.296s, but crucially he only managed 28 laps.
Mercedes’ best count was 95 via George Russell (1m18.696s) in P2. Alpine started its new F1 journey as customer team with Mercedes, with Colapinto (1m20.189s, 60 laps) ending up P3. The German team had Andrea Kimi Antonelli (1m20.700s, P4) start the day, with 56 laps against his name.
Only Cadillac had both its drivers, with Valtteri Bottas (1m24.651s, P7) having his first go in the 2026 F1 car after Sergio Perez (1m25.974s, P9) ran in the Silverstone shakedown. Visa Cash App RB’s Lawson (1m21.513s) ended up sixth despite some issues limiting his run.
Here’s unofficial times and lap count: https://x.com/ASJesusBalseiro/status/2015839195277783362?s=20
https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/2015858612468404400?s=20
Here’s photos from Day 1: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/gallery-see-the-2026-cars-emerge-on-track-for-the-first-time-at-the.35vICK3YZU3lOBa5p4yhJw
https://x.com/Circuitcat_eng/status/2015731173427650631?s=20
Here’s list of videos of drivers speaking to F1 website post the day: https://www.formula1.com/en/video
https://x.com/F1/status/2015871109611098452?s=20
Drivers/teams say –
Ocon (Haas): “First off, it’s been an unbelievable effort from the whole team to get the car ready and out on track at 09:20 this morning. We were ready at 09:00 but wanted to see an improvement in track conditions and some other things just to be perfect before we went out. From the Fiorano run out with Ollie on Saturday, to being here running from the morning today, people have moved mountains to make it work. We’ve worked through our plan, we’ve learned as we’ve progressed through the day – and of course it’s a busy plan obviously focusing on getting mileage onto the car. We’ll keep pushing to make sure all the details are covered, but at least this year we have more days than usual. We’ll see what we can improve, so we can ensure that we take the right development path and put the resources where they matter the most. For the first real day of driving a new car though, I think it’s gone well.”
Colapinto (Alpine): “Firstly, it’s a good feeling to be going into my first Formula One pre-season with a new car. It’s very different with the new regulations, such big changes, and that is very exciting for everyone. The team has done a great job in preparing everything in order to have the car ready to run on the first day of the shakedown here in Barcelona. There’s always a lot to learn at this stage of the year with so many new things to understand. It’s nice to see so much positivity and optimism in the garage and to see everyone putting in a lot of effort. We have two more days to run on-track here where we need to add more mileage and complete more laps. We will focus on ourselves, continue putting the hard work in, keep the energy positive and aim to make the most of this week’s shakedown.”
Antonelli (Mercedes): “It was nice to be back in the car this morning and, more importantly, we’ve had a productive first day here in Barcelona. There is lots for us to learn with these new machines so it’s important that we complete as much mileage as we can and build our knowledge. The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us to this position, developing and building a car that has been able to complete over 150 laps on its first proper day of running. It is early days though. There will be things we discover in the coming days that we can improve but that is the point of testing. For now, though, the package overall feels good, and we will look to build on this start over the following two days of running we’re allowed here in Barcelona.”
Russell (Mercedes): “It’s great to be back out on track driving an F1 car once again! The cars looked really cool out on the circuit and that’s positive for our sport. They are quite different for us as drivers but, once you get your head around it, driving them is quite intuitive. It’s enjoyable being behind-the-wheel and I think there’s a lot for fans to look forward to with these new regulations. We are pleased with our day, but I’ve also been impressed by several other teams too. The Red Bull power unit has completed a lot of laps which, given that it’s their first engine they’ve built, means they’ve clearly done a good job. Haas also managed a similar amount of running to ourselves, so the Ferrari power unit has also put together plenty of mileage. It’s not quite how it was in 2014! The sport has evolved so much since then and the level, in every single aspect, is so high now.”
Ayao Komatsu (Haas): “In terms of the mileage we’ve been able to do today it’s been really good, but behind the scenes it’s been a huge amount of work – I’m sure it’s been the same for everyone. To have completed Saturday’s full permitted mileage at Fiorano was monumental, and then to come here and be ready to run first thing Monday in Spain, it’s been an incredible effort from the whole team and honestly very satisfying to achieve. As the day’s progressed, we’ve been able to start to look into the details more, but with these new regulations it’s just been so important to be running – every time we go out we learn something new, that’s what we’re here for. We’re gathering data and identifying issues that need to be solved, but we’re only getting started. That said, I’m happy with how we’ve started this week. We all have a huge challenge ahead of us but you’ll see a lot of evolution through testing and then through the season which will be interesting for everyone.”
Steve Nielson (Alpine): “First of all, well done to the whole team trackside and at the factory for getting the car on track almost immediately when the light went green at the end of the Pit Lane on the first day of the Shakedown. It really is testament to their hard work for getting us into this position to hit the track at the first available opportunity in this new regulation era and new era for the team. After the Filming Day last week in Silverstone with Pierre driving the A526 for the first time, today was Franco’s turn in the car. In the end, it was a typical first day of a test session, going through various programmes and systems checks.
“We experienced a few minor issues that set us back but are to be expected with a completely new car. At these events, the task is primarily about learning and understanding, rather than rushing too much too soon. So, today has largely been a thought-out decision to limit some of our running at times in order to ensure our systems and processes are running correctly. We have two more days in the car for the week, which we’ll decide based off a number of factors including weather and the conditions, where we will aim to maximise our track time and continue to learn more about the entire package.”
Andrew Shovlin (Mercedes): “We are happy with how today went overall. The main thing we are looking for in the early running of any new car is to make sure we can get plenty of laps in. That enables us to get into the learning of our programme in subsequent days. Today was all about understanding the car, therefore, making sure it stabilised at the correct temperatures, and ensure we could do our long runs.
“It is positive that we were able to achieve that. It has been a monumental project to get this car ready both on the chassis and Power Unit side; at Brixworth they have been working on this for years. We don’t know where we stand in terms of performance, but we’ve proved we are able to keep the car out on the track and that is testament to the hard work of everyone at both our factories.”
Here’s details from Pirelli on tyres
[Note: Only lap count of Haas, Alpine and Mercedes is official]
