F1 Barcelona pre-season testing live commentary and updates - day 1
F1 2026 starts here! Follow along for updates as they unfold from Barcelona
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So with that, now that our report of the action - if you can call it such - is out, we shall leave you until the fun starts again tomorrow morning...
Adios!
The fastest lap of the day according to leaked and unofficial timing was Hadjar with a 1m18.159s – but, again, on a day devoted to validating new systems this was not at all representative. George Russell, who took over from Antonelli in the afternoon, was 0.537s off Hadjar; the overall spread from fastest to slowest (Sergio Perez, who completed just 11 laps in the Cadillac during the afternoon) was 7.815s.
And now time to hear from Antonelli on how the 2026 Merc compares to its predecessor:
"Well, it still will take a bit of time to try all the modes, you know, overtake, override, all that kind of stuff - it's different. But the car is nice, it's very nice to drive and obviously on the PU side it's a bit different compared to what we had last year, it requires a bit more management but it's all doable."
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes W17
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
Well the afternoon has certainly been a stark contract to this morning. Although the test is private, there were still leaks from the track earlier today, but almost nothing is known about the post-lunch running.
So here is the rear of Lawson's Racing Bulls for you...
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Formula 1
Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley claimed that the 2026 "engine sounds more aggressive" than that of the previous era at the German marque's season launch last week.
Well, you can decide that for yourself now with F1 releasing a video of the Audi on track today:
Ayao Komatsu has told F1 TV: “To do 67 laps on the Day 1 morning was really, really good. Now we can start looking a bit more into details.
“Now that we are running, we are discovering issues, problems we need to solve, every lap, every run. But that’s what we are here for, right?
"At least we are running, that means we are gathering data, we are identifying issues that we need to solve. Still, obviously we just got started, but I’m very, very happy how we started.”
Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Look, a car! A big year for Lawson up ahead though, one where he'll perhaps put himself onto the radar of other teams should a return to Red Bull not be on the cards.
But huzzah, we have some quotes from the track. Here is Cadillac's new driver Valtteri Bottas: "Priority list now is get more laps each day, think I got a bit more than 30 laps today, some of them just installs and stuff, but we need to get some proper running in, get the mileage in, and make sure we get a reliable package for race one."
Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac
Photo by: Formula 1
But will the Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur get involved with placing expectations? Here is what he had to say at its 2026 season launch in Maranello:
"It's far too early about expectation but we are there to work, to develop, to improve and we'll see what is the situation in Melbourne.
"But it's a very long way until Melbourne that today it was an important milestone to put the car on track without any issue and this is good, but we have a long way and I think the rate of development will be much higher this season.
"That's what you saw last year or the year before. It means that nobody knows what will be the situation in a couple of weeks now, but we for sure have to do the best to continue to be able to collect data, to develop the car and to be focused on ourselves.
"We'll see about the performance when we'll be in Melbourne but even Melbourne will [not] be the end of the championship. It won't be the end of the championship but I think we'll have a huge rate of development."
Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc $ Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
But what can you do? So here is David Croft and Greg James predicting how many wins Ferrari will get in 2026
Everything is being done to keep things private. The unofficial lap time data has been cut off and anybody who gets remotely close to the circuit is being turned away...
Not much known at the moment in terms of unofficial lap times, but with the afternoon session underway there will have been driver changes along the way.
George Russell in for Andrea Kimi Antonelli being one of them.
How nice it would be to have that view
A lot less is coming from the track now, F1 really on top of keeping things private, so here is a picture of the Cadillac for your own entertainment...
Cadillac F1 Barcelona test
Photo by: Formula 1
In case you missed it: Audi announced Freddie Slater as the first member of its newly formed driver academy.
The 17-year-old is Great Britain's next big F1 hopeful having shot through the junior ranks with titles in Ginetta, F4 and FRECA last year.
He will contest F3 in 2026 and is a previous Autosport young driver finalist, having also won the inaugural Derek Warwick SuperStar of the Year honour at last year's BRDC awards.
(Oh, and, here is Bortoleto in his Audi during today's Barcelona test - maybe they'll be team-mates some day.)
Audi R26 Barcelona test
Photo by: Formula 1
Nothing from the track, but Aston Martin has announced the date of its 2026 season launch...
Any bets for whose eye that is?
Away from liveries, there doesn't seem to be much change in the unofficial leaderboard so far: Hadjar leads the way with a 1m18.835s, leaving him 1.865s above runner-up Antonelli.
The honour of most laps goes to the Haas of Ocon, which has completed 67 of them.
The nicest livery on the 2026 grid. Will leave you guessing as to which one admin is referring to...
Many of you in the comments section are wondering what's happening with Aston Martin. The Silverstone outfit hasn't been seen on track yet, but it also hasn't announced that it is skipping this week's shakedown like Williams.
But Autosport can reveal that Aston Martin will not start running until Wednesday at the earliest, possibly even Thursday, following delays in development.
So, it is a good time for me to hand over to Ed Hardy to see you through the rest of the day here. I'm off to go study some front wing endplates.
Digesting the first morning
Presuming schedules have remained unchanged, this latest red flag has effectively transformed into a lunch break for all teams. On the face of it, an encouraging start for Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine, Racing Bulls, Haas, Cadillac and Audi (subject to troubles they may have hit to prevent further running) who all have began extended running.
We were not expecting to see McLaren, Ferrari (both starting tomorrow) and Williams (not at the test entirely), but still no word on the status of Aston Martin.
A third red flag of the day has been reported, with Lawson stated to have stopped on track in the Racing Bulls. That brings the red flag tally up to three for the first morning of running, with Colapinto for Alpine having triggered the first and Audi's Bortoleto having been connected to the second. Later today we will find out from the teams what was the cause of the red flags and how much it impacted running.
Hadjar lowers the bar with a 1m19.106s, having clocked up 39 laps already this morning in the Red Bull. Haas leads the lap count leaderboard with Ocon already up to 60 laps.
Need a refresher on how the 2026 F1 rules will work? Look no further:
Watch: 2026 Formula 1 Technical Regulations Explained
Hadjar has taken over at the top of the unofficial times, setting a 1m20.300s in the RB22, but it must be stressed not to look too closely into the lap times at this stage. It is cold, it is damp and nobody will be focused on performance running at this stage. The name of the game is mileage and reliability.
We knew that Alpine's 2026 car would look very different to its launch model, thanks to leaked footage from a Silverstone shakedown. Footage from Barcelona confirms this, and the front wing treatment is quite unique. At 1), we can see a strake used to control the airflow around the front wheels, and the outboard wing section has been raised dramatically to facilitate this. At 2) the endplate has a small lip on the inside to add further control and vortex generation capabilities - an addition seen before in F1 before front-wing restrictions were tightened up in 2019. Of further note is Alpine's front suspension, which features a) pull-rod activated rockers, and b) a dramatic incline to the top wishbone's rear leg - similar to that of McLaren.
Hadjar in the Red Bull RB22 earlier this morning.
Red Bull RB22 Barcelona test
Photo by: Formula 1
The biggest question mark right now is Aston Martin, with the team somewhat mute since its brief appearance at the Honda power unit launch in Japan last Tuesday. From our Italian colleague Roberto Chinchero, reports have emerged that the Silverstone-based team won't be in action until Wednesday at the earliest - and might not even be ready to hit the track until Thursday.
Stoffel Vandoorne, Aston Martin F1 Team Reserve Driver
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Colapinto is in action in the Mercedes-powered Alpine for the entire day for the Enstone squad, after team-mate Gasly was at the wheel for the team's Silverstone shakedown last week. It is a car we haven't seen much of, officially at least, following its orchestrated launch of the A526 on Friday.
Alpine A526 livery
Photo by: Alpine
Audi signs Slater to its Driver Development Programme
Audi has signed reigning Formula Regional European champion Freddie Slater as its Driver Development Programme’s first member.
Audi announced on Friday it was launching its own academy, managed by former F1 driver and three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Allan McNish.
At just 17 years old, Slater already has three titles to his name in single-seaters, having won the United Arab Emirates and Italian Formula 4 championships in 2024, then the Formula Regional European Championship last year – always with the Prema outfit. He previously was a European and World Karting champion.
Weather watch: Overnight rain has cleared but it is still damp in places and cold – 8C air temperature in the area.
It does mean these conditions are unrepresentative of anything the cars and teams will face this season… unless we get a particularly chilly day at Silverstone.
By: Autosport Staff
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