Mercedes proving quick and reliable while McLaren also debuts strongly in Barcelona

Mercedes set the fastest times and completed the highest mileage on the third day of the Barcelona Formula 1 shakedown test as McLaren made a strong start to its track running.

Kimi Antonelli was quickest during an afternoon session that saw the Italian log an impressive 91 laps, posting an unofficial 1m17.362s to go 0.2s quicker than teammate George Russell had managed in the morning. Particularly noteworthy was the reliability of the Mercedes, with Russell completing 92 laps himself having hit the track as soon as the pit lane opened – as the team did on Monday – giving a total of 183 laps across the day.

McLaren had made clear last week that it would not run on the opening day in Barcelona, and with rain hitting the track yesterday, it finally had the car ready to go on day three of the shakedown. Lando Norris was behind the wheel on Wednesday and was immediately quick in the context of this week’s lap times, as he posted an unofficial 1m18.307s – only bettered by the Mercedes pair today and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar on Monday.

Norris completed 76 laps on what was the first run for the MCL40, with McLaren having not even carried out a shakedown as it pushed its car build right up to the limit. As teams are allowed to run on three of the five days this week, McLaren will be on track on both Thursday and Friday as well.

Fast starts to 2026 for the world champion and his new car. Photo courtesy of McLaren F1 Team

One team not running on Wednesday was Red Bull, as the team evaluates the parts it has available after Hadjar crashed in the wet on Tuesday, but Laurent Mekies’ team has already completed two days on track so can only appear on one further day.

With Ferrari also not taking to the track on Wednesday – following a Tuesday debut for the SF-26 – Mercedes power units filed the top five positions on the timing screens as both Alpine drivers got track time.

Franco Colapinto’s best lap of 1m19.150s was enough for fourth in the unofficial results, ahead of Pierre Gasly on a 1m19.297s. Between them they completed 125 laps, as Alpine starts to gain experience with its new power unit supplier.

Haas was the only Ferrari-powered car on track and endured a challenging day with reliability issues. An early stoppage was rectified to allow Oliver Bearman to return to the track on Wednesday afternoon, but a further problem needed addressing that ended his day after just 42 laps.

Arvid Lindblad was the driver to complete the most mileage on his own as the Racing Bulls rookie managed a total of 120 laps on his pre-season debut, posting a best lap of 1m19.420s – just 0.106s slower than Bearman.

There was increased mileage for Audi but still not a huge number of laps as Nico Hulkenberg added 68 laps to the 27 Gabriel Bortoleto had completed on Monday, with Hulkenberg’s best time registering as a 1m21.010s.

Aston Martin will aim to join the action on Thursday if it can prepare its new car in time, while Cadillac is also expected to try and run on both days having only appeared on Monday so far. Aside from McLaren and Ferrari, the remaining six teams – Mercedes, Red Bull, Racing Bulls, Alpine, Haas and Audi – will have to choose which of the final two days they run on.

Unofficial times:

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), 1m17.362s, 91 laps

George Russell (Mercedes), 1m17.580s, 92 laps

Lando Norris (McLaren), 1m18:307s, 76 laps

Franco Colapinto (Alpine), 1m19.150s, 58 laps

Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 1m19.297s, 67 laps

Oliver Bearman (Haas), 1m19.314s, 42 laps

Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), 1m19.420s, 120 laps

Nico Hulkenberg (Audi), 1m21.010s, 68 laps