Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing

Here's what happened on day three of F1’s secretive closed-door 2026 shakedown

Mercedes continued to lead the way as McLaren joined the fray

There was a lot more action on the third day of Formula 1’s pre-season ‘shakedown’ which, as is common knowledge by now, is taking place behind closed doors in Barcelona.

Six out of 11 teams took to the track, including McLaren, which skipped the first two days but is planning to run continuously until Friday evening – each team is allowed three days of testing this week.

Lando Norris was in action for the reigning world champions on Wednesday; the Briton took to the track around 11am and completed 62 laps, according to timing data reported by SoyMotor, having spent some more time in the garage in the afternoon.

The most impressive car, at least in terms of reliability and consistency (performance can’t be judged in any way whatsoever at this stage), was the Mercedes.

The W17 covered a whopping 183 laps (which equates to 852km, or 530 miles), with George Russell at the wheel in the morning and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the afternoon. The Italian youngster set the fastest lap of the week so far (again, according to unofficial timing) with a 1m17.382s on soft rubber, two tenths faster than his team-mate. The latter reportedly mostly ran the C1 tyre compound – the hardest in Pirelli’s range – but may have set his own benchmark on a softer compound.

George Russell, Mercedes W17

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

Other than McLaren and Mercedes, Alpine had both drivers in action; meanwhile Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg drove the Racing Bulls, Haas and Audi cars respectively. All three caused red flags due to presumed technical issues. This doesn’t bode well for the German team, a new F1 power unit manufacturer, whose first day was curtailed too on Monday. Still, all six cars in action today reportedly covered at least 42 laps.

Ahead of the last two days of the test, six teams have already completed two days of testing and will therefore have to choose whether to run on Thursday or Friday, with weather forecasts playing a major role in the decision; no rain is forecast on either day and temperatures are set to be similar, but Friday should be mildly windy.

Those six teams are Alpine, Audi, Haas, Mercedes, Racing Bulls and Red Bull.

The remaining five teams can run on both days, including Cadillac (which only ran on Monday), Ferrari (which was seen on Tuesday only) and McLaren (which debuted today).

Aston Martin has been racing against the clock to kickstart its testing programme, with the AMR26 expected on track some time tomorrow,

Aston Martin has been racing against the clock to kickstart its testing programme, with the AMR26 expected on track sometime tomorrow, while Williams decided to skip the Barcelona week altogether – which team principal James Vowles explained in further detail this afternoon. Read all about it below.