Barcelona Formula 1 shakedown Day 3 report: McLaren debut, Mercedes flex their muscles

Six out of the 11 F1 teams tested on Wednesday at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya as Ferrari sat out as well as Red Bull Racing, who are looking at how to bounce back from Isack Hadjar's crash on Day 2. Cadillac also did not run.

Mercedes are currently living up to the preseason hype, which singled them out as favorites, as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli racked up a total of 183 laps, with the latter clocking the best lap time and the former the second-best.

Forget about the lap times, but over 180 laps is a serious statement from the eight-time F1 Constructors' Champions.

The 2025 F1 Champion Lando Norris was the McLaren driver chosen to give the MCL40 its debut wrapped in the custom testing livery and carrying the #1.

The Briton ended the day third fastest while accumulating 76 laps as his teammate Oscar Piastri watched from the side of the track.

Alpine, like Mercedes, had both its drivers on track, with Franco Colapinto lapping the Barcelona track 58 times, with Pierre Gasly adding 67 to that tally.

It was another testament of the quality of the Mercedes power unit which is powering the Renault-owned team.

Ollie Bearman was on driving duty for Haas and drove 42 laps, a far cry from what Esteban Ocon achieved on Day 1 (over 150 laps), as the VF-26 was one of three cars stopping on track and causing a Red Flag.

The second car that caused a Red Flag was Racing Bulls' VCARB 03 which was driver by rookie Arvid Lindblad who managed a whopping 120 laps despite the stoppage.

Audi also had technical issues early on but Nico Hulkenberg eventually managed 68 laps, a decent improvement compared to the 27 laps the team managed on Day 1.

Worth noting that Aston Martin's AMR26 arrived in Spain towards late afternoon on Wednesday, but there are questions whether the team can get it ready for running by Thursday morning.