The 2026 Formula 1 season began to take shape last week as teams completed their annual Barcelona shakedown, a three‑day session that offered the first meaningful look at performance, reliability, and early driver form.
While Ferrari topped the outright timesheets with a 1:16.348, it was Mercedes who emerged as the clear mileage leader, logging an impressive 500 laps, the highest total of any team.
Ferrari led the way on single‑lap pace
Lewis Hamilton delivered the fastest lap of the test with a 1m 16.348s, edging out George Russell by just 0.097 seconds. Russell’s 1m 16.445s placed Mercedes second overall, while McLaren’s Lando Norris slotted into third with a 1m 16.594s, only 0.246 seconds off Hamilton’s benchmark.
Charles Leclerc added further strength to Ferrari’s showing by posting a 1m 16.653s, giving the team two drivers inside the top four. The gap between Hamilton and Leclerc was a mere 0.305 seconds, suggesting Ferrari’s new package is competitive from the outset.
The top five drivers — Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Leclerc, and Mercedes’ Italian driver Kimi Antonelli — were covered by just 0.733 seconds, an unusually tight spread for an early‑season shakedown.
Mercedes completes a massive 500 Laps
While Ferrari claimed the fastest time, Mercedes dominated the reliability charts. The team completed 500 laps, the most of any outfit and 58 more than Ferrari’s 442. Russell alone logged 263 laps, the second‑highest individual total of the test, while Antonelli added 237, giving Mercedes the strongest combination of pace and endurance.
Haas surprisingly ranked third in mileage with 391 laps, thanks to Esteban Ocon’s 243 laps — the highest workload of any driver — and Oliver Bearman’s additional 148.
At the other end of the spectrum, Aston Martin endured a difficult week. Fernando Alonso completed just 61 laps, while Lance Stroll managed only 5, leaving the team with a combined total of 66 laps, a full 434 laps fewer than Mercedes.
Red Bull and McLaren show solid but unspectacular form
Red Bull’s running was steady but not headline‑grabbing. Max Verstappen recorded a best time of 1m 17.586s, placing him 1.238 seconds behind Hamilton. The team completed 303 laps, which is 197 fewer than Mercedes and 139 fewer than Ferrari.
McLaren showed encouraging pace but limited mileage. Norris’s 1m 16.594s was the third‑fastest time of the test, but the team completed only 288 laps, leaving them 212 laps short of Mercedes’ total. Oscar Piastri contributed 128 laps and a best time of 1m 17.446s, 0.852 seconds behind his teammate.
Audi, Sauber and Alpine in the midfield mix
Audi’s first full shakedown as a works team produced 243 laps, matching the mileage of their power unit’s total from the engine table. Nico Hülkenberg set the team’s best time with a 1m 19.870s, while rookie Gabriel Bortoleto added a 1m 20.179s.
Sauber completed 164 laps, with Valtteri Bottas logging 77 and Sergio Pérez adding 87. Their best time, a 1m 20.920s from Bottas, left them near the bottom of the timesheets.
Alpine delivered a more productive week, completing 347 laps. Pierre Gasly’s 1m 17.707s placed him in the midfield, while Franco Colapinto’s 1m 19.150s and 118 laps provided valuable early mileage for the team.
