FINAL DAY OF F1 2026 PRE-SEASON TESTING IN BARCELONA
The fifth and final day of Formula 1 2026 pre-season testing took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, bringing the winter tests to a close with strong pace, long runs, and a late push on soft tyres.
The day began at 09:00 with the green light and plenty of early activity. Seven drivers were on track straight away, including Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri, Gasly, Bearman and Bottas. Aston Martin joined shortly after with Fernando Alonso, who completed installation laps with limited speed as the team focused on system and engine checks rather than lap times.
Early in the morning, Verstappen set the first reference time with a 1:19.944, but it did not last long. Oscar Piastri soon went quickest with a 1:18.950, showing good early pace for McLaren. As the session developed, lap times steadily improved.
Charles Leclerc was one of the key names of the morning. He climbed to the top of the times with a 1:17.214, and later became the first non-Mercedes driver of the tests to dip into the 1:16s, setting a 1:16.949 on medium tyres. This was a very strong sign for Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso continued running with limited speed for much of the morning, gradually improving his lap times as Aston Martin worked through its program. By late morning, he had lowered his best time to 1:20.795.
At the end of the morning session, the main times were led by Leclerc and Piastri, with Verstappen, Bearman and Gasly close behind. The focus was clearly on consistency and mileage rather than outright speed.
After the lunch break, the final afternoon session began quietly. For a while, no cars were on track as teams prepared for their last runs of the test.
Activity picked up again around mid-afternoon. Norris, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Ocon and Hamilton were all on track. At 15:25, Alonso returned for more laps, still following a controlled program.
The big moment came at 16:20, when Lando Norris set the fastest time of the day at that point: a 1:16.594. McLaren briefly looked like the reference.
That did not last long. In the final hour, Mercedes and Ferrari turned up the pace. Several teams switched to soft tyres to try qualifying simulations while the track conditions were at their best.
Lewis Hamilton was the fastest of all in the end, setting a 1:16.348 late in the session. Norris and Leclerc followed closely, both within three tenths. Verstappen, Gasly and Bearman focused heavily on long runs, with Gasly completing an impressive 160 laps and Verstappen reaching 118.
The chequered flag fell at 18:00, ending the final day of testing and the entire pre-season.
The final classification of the day was:
- Lewis Hamilton – 1:16.348 (63 laps)
- Lando Norris – 1:16.594 (83 laps)
- Charles Leclerc – 1:16.653 (78 laps)
- Oscar Piastri – 1:17.446 (80 laps)
- Max Verstappen – 1:17.586 (118 laps)
- Pierre Gasly – 1:17.707 (160 laps)
- Esteban Ocon – 1:18.393 (85 laps)
- Oliver Bearman – 1:18.423 (106 laps)
- Nico Hülkenberg – 1:19.870 (78 laps)
- Gabriel Bortoleto – 1:20.179 (66 laps)
- Fernando Alonso – 1:20.795 (49 laps)
- Valtteri Bottas – 1:20.920 (54 laps)
With testing complete, the picture is still incomplete, as always. But Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren all showed strong speed, while teams like Red Bull and Alpine focused heavily on reliability and long runs. Now it is time for the real pre-season testing in Bahrain.
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