A complete recap of F1’s 2026 Barcelona shakedown: What we learned, drivers’ thoughts and more
- Maham Mir
- 2 minutes ago
- 9 min read
Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Meghana Sree
Everything we learned from F1’s private test in Barcelona ahead of the 2026 season with its major regulation changes.
Formula One’s five-day Barcelona shakedown has come to an end with nine out of ten teams taking to the track to get their first long distance running completed with their 2026 challengers. Each team was allowed three days of running which could be completed in any order or combination.
Ahead of the five day period of running, Williams announced that they would not be taking part in the shakedown altogether in order to give themselves the maximum amount of time to develop the car ahead of Bahrain. McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin followed suit by announcing that they would not be taking part on the first day of the shakedown.
Day 1: 26th January
Seven teams took to the grid on the first day of the shakedown with a full day of clear weather and running ahead of them.
Mercedes and their W17 were the first to take to the track with Kimi Antonelli at the wheel for the full day. Speaking after his running was completed on Monday, Antonelli mentioned that the team have “been trying to tune the PU [power unit] and the car”.
Audi took to the grid for the first time with Gabriel Bortoleto conducting their programme for the first day. Their challenger for 2026, the R26, was utilising their own power unit for the first time as Audi enter the sport as a works team. It is the team’s first time not using a Ferrari power unit since 2010.
On their first day of running, Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley noted that this era of car, designed to be lighter and smaller to aid for better racing, is a “tremendous technical challenge” for all the teams.
Ahead of the first part of pre-season testing in Bahrain and the first race weekend of the season in Melbourne, Australia, Wheatley also said that 2026 will be a “fascinating year in seeing who develops what” to hopefully win both titles available at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Fellow newcomers Cadillac also took to the grid on the first day with both drivers testing the car in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas took the first shift of the day, handing over to Sergio Pérez for the afternoon session.
Unlike Audi, Cadillac enter the sport as a customer team to Ferrari as they continue developing their own power unit set to debut in the 2029 season. Speaking after the end of his session, Bottas kept his cards close to his chest, noting that “performance wise, I wouldn’t say much yet”.
Over at Red Bull, it was Isack Hadjar who made his debut outing for the senior team and ahead of the start of his sophomore season. Hadjar, who scored his maiden F1 podium in his rookie season at the Dutch Grand Prix, will be Max Verstappen’s third teammate in the space of a year.
Setting the fastest time of the day, Hadjar seemed quietly confident in the RB 22. Echoing the sentiment of his Team Principal Laurent Mekies who discussed the magnitude of the project Red Bull are planning in the creation of their own engine, Hadjar stated that the performance so far is “quite impressive considering it's our first day with our own engine”.
Racing Bulls, the sister team to Red Bull, ran both of their drivers on the first day in Barcelona, with Liam Lawson opening the lap count and rookie Arvid Lindblad closing off the day. With Lindblad’s arrival on the grid, F1 has the most British drivers on the grid since 1966.
Lawson commented on the unpredictability of this new generation of cars given that “it’s hard to know where we are”. He also highlighted that despite his extensive running in the morning that “I definitely haven’t got my head around it fully yet”.
Haas had Esteban Ocon leading both sessions for the team. Ocon acknowledged that “people have climbed mountains to make this car work”. He also added that it was important for the team to be “dealing with the plan, learning as it goes” as Haas try to maximise the opportunity of these new regulations and find consistent success in 2026.
Ocon’s Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu, echoed Ocon’s sentiments by stating that “teamwork is even more important” moving into these new regulations. As a former race engineer, Komatsuo also highlighted that “engineers and drivers working together is what this sport is all about”.
The final team who made an appearance on the first day was Alpine with Franco Colapinto attending his first pre-season events despite having previously driven in F1. The main talking point for the French team on the first day was learning more about their new power unit having swapped to being a Mercedes customer team.
Day 2: 27th January
Unlike the first day of running which saw seven teams take to the track, only two teams ran in changing conditions on the second day of the shakedown.
Ferrari emerged for the first time with the SF-26, driven by Charles Leclerc for the morning session. As Leclerc continued to log laps and Verstappen joined him on track, the changing weather conditions saw both drivers swap from a dry run plan to one better suited to damp conditions.
After the afternoon break, Verstappen swapped for his new teammate Hadjar who crashed his car but emerged unhurt.
Over at Ferrari, Leclerc gave way to Hamilton for the afternoon session. Hamilton, speaking after his running in the wet weather conditions, identified: “we got a lot of information on the car today - we definitely need to keep it up, [there’s] lots and lots to do, but a good first day”.
Leclerc echoed the sentiments of his teammate, highlighting that “we’re not focused on performance whatsoever”. Ferrari, who endured a season without Grand Prix victory in 2025, will be hoping to turn things around in this new era.
Day 3: 28th January
Unlike the relative quiet on the track on the second day which only saw two teams run, it was all excitement as six teams returned for the third day of running in Barcelona.
Once again, it was Mercedes who were first out of the garage with Russell taking the morning session before making way for Antonelli in the afternoon. Racing Bulls’ Lindblad followed shortly after.
For Alpine, Colapinto returned for the morning and after the lunch break, Pierre Gasly was given his first chance to stack up some mileage in this season’s car.
Speaking after his session, Gasly highlighted: “A lot feels different to what I’ve felt in my entire career in F1, so there are quite a lot of references to reset.”
Another new driver to take to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the third day was Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg.
In the same vein as the comments made by his team principal on the first day of running, Hülkenberg noted: “It’s going to be a long way, a long road from here to Bahrain and to the first couple of races, but I think everyone is very happy and positive and excited for the season ahead.”
Like Hülkenberg, Haas also had their other driver dial in on the third day of running as Ollie Bearman took to the track for the first time in 2026. Bearman, who recorded a sensational P4 finish last season at the Mexico City Grand Prix, noted that “everybody’s learning the car, the new bits and procedures” which can make car related issues harder to figure out compared to previous years.
Wednesday also saw reigning Constructors’ World Champions McLaren emerging for their first planned day of running. Their programme was led by newly crowned Drivers’ World Champion Lando Norris who was sporting the No.1 on his car for the first time.
Norris, speaking about the new car, mentioned that “it’s a bit more of a challenge in many places” for both the drivers and the team as well.
Mercedes, Red Bull, Alpine, Racing Bulls, Haas and Audi only had one day remaining. Ferrari, McLaren and Cadillac were eligible to run for the remainder of the time in Barcelona.
Day 4: 29th January
Oscar Piastri drove the MCL40 for the first time however his running was cut short after an issue emerged in the car’s fuel system. The Australian, who finished third in the Drivers’ Championship standings in 2025, remained cautious about his expectations in the upcoming season.
He highlighted that there are “a lot of new challenges for us this year up and down the grid” but that the shakedown was a great way “to get stuck into some of them” ahead of the official start to the season. The opening round in 2026, the Australian Grand Prix, will be Piastri’s home race.
Mercedes and Ferrari split their day between their drivers yet again as Antonelli took the morning shift and swapped for Russell in the afternoon. With this being the final day allowed for the Silver Arrows to run, Antonelli was filled with confidence and stated: “I’m happy because I’m learning quite a lot about the car, and just looking forward to being back in Bahrain.”
Russell continued the positive trend from the other side of the garage. After completing his programme for the day, Russell remarked: “We’re in a reasonably good place, but I’m sure things are going to change a lot between now and the next Bahrain test.”
Similar to Mercedes, Hamilton took the morning session for his first run in dry conditions before Leclerc took over in the afternoon ahead of the chequered flag. Elsewhere, Pérez and Lindblad also returned to the track for Cadillac and Racing Bulls respectively.
Aston Martin finally took their 2026 challenger to the track however not until the afternoon session. Lance Stroll took to the track with the AMR26, using the Honda engine for the first time. Discussing the new car, Stroll was quick to identify that “a lot of hours have gone into this machine, so it was nice to get behind the wheel”.
Mercedes and Racing Bulls completed all their allocated days of running and so their time in Barcelona was over. They will take to the track again in the first part of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Day 5: 30th January
All of the remaining teams, with the exception of Mercedes and Racing Bulls, took to the track for the final day of the shakedown.
Notable mentions go out for Versappen’s return with Red Bull, Piastri’s run in the McLaren after a fuel system related issue hampered his running on day four and Fernando Alonso’s debut run in the AMR26.
After the lunch break, Piastri made way for Norris while Leclerc swapped for Hamilton. Ocon and Hülkenberg became the drivers to end their respective programmes for Haas and Audi. For Alpine, Gasly ran throughout the whole day to accumulate an impressive amount of distance.
After a disrupted day four, both Norris and Piastri were able to put an extensive number of laps on the board. Speaking at the end of the day, Norris discussed his view on comparing performance at the end of the shakedown.
He noted: “It's so easy to get caught up into comparison, just because we’re all competitive so you always want to see yourself doing well and feeling you can be quick.”
Verstappen, who will undoubtedly be hoping to win a coveted fifth title in 2026, echoed the positivity of his teammate Hadjar when discussing the new engine. Speaking about unlocking performance in the power unit, Verstappen said: “I think we’ve hit the ground running quite well on those things.”
Two time world champion Alonso took to the track to continue the programme started by his teammate Stroll. At the end of the day, Alonso was full of praise for his team, stating: “It was very special, yesterday with Lance [Stroll] and today with me in the car — the first car made by Adrian [Newey] and together with Honda and Aramco and these new rules.”
To round off the five days of running that the nine teams conducted, Leclerc said that “it’s an exciting time for F1, where there’s so much change that we’ve got to adapt as drivers, we’ve got to adapt as teams”.
Final thoughts
The number of laps logged by the ten of eleven teams present at the shakedown easily crossed into the thousands, giving them ample opportunity to test their 2026 cars across different programmes. With all the teams still cautious of speaking about their cars and their potential, it’s difficult to decide the pecking order just yet.
As a whole, the grid seems to be pleased with the progress that the shakedown has allowed them to make. It is a promising start for 2026, especially considering how dramatic the overhaul in regulations has been.
All teams, including Williams who sat out the Barcelona test, will take to the track with their 2026 liveries for the first part of pre-season testing between 11th to 13th February in Bahrain.
