2026 Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
F1 Barcelona pre-season testing live commentary and updates - day 1
F1 2026 starts here! Follow along for updates as they unfold from Barcelona
Live Text
F1 2026 begins!
...is this thing on? Right, good. We're on.
Hello everybody, and welcome to 2026. F1 testing is under way in Barcelona - but it's behind closed doors. So, we'll be doing what we can to bring you info from this week.
Stick with us throughout the week, and hopefully we'll have plenty to share!
Let's start by making things clear, for this test there is no live timing, no live TV action and no blow-by-blow account of what is happening each day. But we will be providing updates as much as we can over the full five days to deliver your F1 fix. For a full explanation on what this test is all about, look no further...
This morning has also been busy in the online world, as Red Bull has released first shots of its actual F1 car, while McLaren has released renders of its 2026 challenger for the first time.
Cars on-track, cars in digital form... 2026 is go!
Red Bull Racing RB22
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Mercedes has 'won' the battle to get first out on the track ahead of Audi, with Alpine completing the rostrum in third. It has zero bearing on the outcome of the 2026 F1 world championship, but time and again teams have taken pride in being 'first' on the track at the collective tests. If we're being picky, Audi won that race two weeks ago with its private shakedown.
Audi F1 Team shakedown
Photo by: Audi
What can we show you?
Given the behind-closed-doors nature of the Barcelona test, there’s a strict lockdown over what can be shown from the test. F1 teams will be releasing a handful of images and short social media videos each day, along with F1 itself, plus end of day interviews with whoever each team opts to put in front of the camera.
Of course, since the last proper private collective test (circa 2014) the world of social media and image technology has exploded, so the online world will be awash with speculation and grainy footage. Here we will filter what’s right and what’s wrong to provide the best picture.
F1 cars, everywhere you look!
So far we've had seven teams take to the track this morning: Mercedes, Audi, Alpine, Haas, Cadillac, Racing Bulls and Red Bull. With McLaren, Williams and Ferrari not in action today that just leaves Aston Martin as the last unknown.
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.
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.
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
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
Hadjar in the Red Bull RB22 earlier this morning.
Red Bull RB22 Barcelona test
Photo by: Formula 1
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 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.
Need a refresher on how the 2026 F1 rules will work? Look no further:
Watch: 2026 Formula 1 Technical Regulations Explained
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The nicest livery on the 2026 grid. Will leave you guessing as to which one admin is referring to...
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.
Nothing from the track, but Aston Martin has announced the date of its 2026 season launch...
Any bets for whose eye that is?
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
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
How nice it would be to have that view
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.
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...
By: Autosport Staff
