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Hadjar fastest for Red Bull as F1's shakedown test gets underway in Barcelona
Seven of the 11 teams took to the track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the opening day of Formula 1’s shakedown test, with Isack Hadjar logging the fastest time for Red Bull.
Mercedes was first to roll out of the pit lane on Monday morning on what proved to be a surprisingly busy day of running. Teams are free to choose any three of the five days this week to run on a track booked collectively for the private test. There is no open access for media or fans, aside from a small F1 broadcast crew on site.
RACER's sources confirmed the teams that took to the circuit, with Audi and Alpine following Mercedes out on track. Racing Bulls, Cadillac, Red Bull and Haas also all made use of the opening day of running, that had a first red flag caused by Franco Colapinto in the Alpine, while the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls car – driven at the time by Liam Lawson – also stopped on track in the morning session.
No official timing is being provided during the test, though teams have access to their own unofficial lap times, and RACER has verified that Isack Hadjar logged the fastest time for Red Bull with a 118.159, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell on a 1 1m18.696s. While Hadjar drove for the entire day and logged 107 laps, Russell took over from teammate Kimi Antonelli for the afternoon session.
The highest mileage of the day was understood to have been completed by Haas with more than 150 laps.
Williams had already announced it would not be taking part in the test in Spain after encountering delays with its 2026 car, the team opting to do a virtual track testing (VTT) program this week instead. Of those still intending to run, Ferrari and McLaren both outlined their plans last week, which include Ferrari taking to the track on Tuesday, and McLaren doing do either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Aston Martin finally confirmed its testing plans on Monday afternoon when the team said the AMR26 will be in Barcelona later in the week, with the intention of running on Thursday and Friday. That tallies with suggestions the Honda-powered team was struggling to have the car ready in time to make full use of the test, with it set to make use of just two of the three days it has on offer.
BARCELONA TEST MONDAY TIMES (ALL UNOFFICIAL)
1. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): 1m18.159s, 107 laps
2. George Russell (Mercedes): 1m18.696s, 95 laps
3. Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 1m20.189s, 60 laps
4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 1m20.700s, 56 laps
5. Esteban Ocon (Haas): 1m21.301s, 154 laps
6. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): 1m21.513s, 88 laps
7. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 1m24.651s, 33 laps
8. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 1m25.296s, 27 laps
9. Sergio Perez (Cadillac): 1m25.974s, 11 laps
This story has been updated to include fastest times and other additional details
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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