Barcelona Formula 1 shakedown Day 5 report: Hamilton fastest, Aston Martin manage some running
F1 NewsFriday, 30 January 2026 at 18:53
With the private Barcelona pre-season test over, Formula 1 has taken one step closer towards the start of its 2026 season with its massive regulation change.
The only teams that did not run on Friday in Barcelona were Mercedes and Racing Bulls who concluded their respective tests on Thursday.
Williams, as well know, are not in Barcelona after delays in the development of their car, the FW48.
It was a busy day around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as eight teams ran on the final day, and those were McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Haas, Alpine, Audi, and Cadillac.
Ferrari had Charles Leclerc running in the morning session as he drove 78 laps, with Lewis Hamilton taking over in the afternoon and ending up posting the fastest time of the test, a 1:16.348, a tenth quicker than what George Russell achieved on Day 4.
Of course that does not mean anything at this point, especially with Ferrari, who are historically known for glory runs to win the pre-season testing championship.
The seven-time F1 Champion drove 63 laps in the afternoon making Ferrari's final day tally a respectable 141 laps.
A better day for McLaren
Oscar Piastri started the day for McLaren and enjoyed a better session compared to Day 4 when his running was cut short by a fuel system issue.
"It was good," the Australian said after handing the MCL40 over to Lando Norris. "Nice to get some good laps on the board this morning. A much smoother day than the first two we had, so that was nice.
"I feel like I got into a pretty good rhythm and was able to feel what the car is actually like, which was nice. I tried a few things to see how we can improve it and stuff like that.
"Just trying running it in different configurations and settings to see what it's like on race weekends.
"All in all a pretty successful morning," Piastri concluded.
Norris concluded the week McLaren with a busy afternoon session yielding 83 laps which made the team's total 163 when Piastri's laps where considered.
Four-time F1 Champion, Max Verstappen, was flying solo for Red Bull Racing and managed 118 laps in the RB22 that was finally repaired after Isack Hadjar's crash on Tuesday with the required spare parts finally arriving.
As for Aston Martin, who arrived late, Fernando Alonso took charge of the AMR26 all Friday and drove 61 laps.
Pierre Gasly was driving all day for Alpine and racked up 164 laps in the A526, another proof of how reliable the Mercedes power unit is.
Haas impress with their mileage
Another reliable power unit was Ferrari as Haas showed with their 190 laps on the final day, more than anyone else as Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman shared the VF-26 for the day, the Frenchman driving in the afternoon.
Cadillac did not have a good day as Valtteri Bottas could managed only 50 laps after taking over from Sergio Perez who handled the driving on Day 4.
But it was Audi who managed to bounce back with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto both driving.
The Brazilian was in the R26 in the morning and drove 67 laps before handing over to his German teammate who added 78 laps to that figure, just exactly what Audi needed after the tough start to their test on Monday when they just amassed 27 laps.
Laps covered by teams after test conclusion
- Mercedes - 500 laps
- Ferrari - 442 laps
- Haas - 386 laps
- Alpine - 349 laps
- Racing Bulls - 319 laps
- Red Bull Racing - 303 laps
- McLaren - 287 laps
- Audi - 240 laps
- Cadillac - 164 laps
- Aston Martin: 65 laps
- Williams - AWOL
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