F1 2026 testing live: Verstappen and Leclerc test new cars in Barcelona
Follow live F1 action from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the first glimpse of the 2026 cars on the racetrack
The 2026 Formula 1 season is upon us and with just six weeks until the first race in Australia, the teams are now preparing for a campaign of unknowns.
New regulations this season mean it is a clean slate for all 11 teams, with Cadillac the first new team on the grid since Haas in 2016. Audi have also taken over Sauber, with Ford partnering with Red Bull to build their own engines.
McLaren won both world championships last year, with Lando Norris claiming his first drivers’ title. Yet this season, Mercedes are rumoured to be the frontrunners, though we won’t know anything until we see the cars out on track.
This week’s test behind-closed-doors in Barcelona is the first of three pre-season sessions for the teams, with official tests in Bahrain next month (11-13 February and 18-20 February). However, Williams won’t be present this week due to delays to their car.
Follow live updates from F1 pre-season testing with The Independent.
PHOTOS: Leclerc out on track in Barcelona
Laps completed:
Charles Leclerc - 45
Max Verstappen - 24
No other drivers out on track this morning...
ANALYSIS: Why Ford are ‘climbing a mountain’ in hope of powering Max Verstappen to F1 glory after 22-year absence
By Kieran Jackson
Just 39 days since Lando Norris’s title triumph in Abu Dhabi, the Formula One wagon is slowly cranking back into gear. Yet this time, those changes of gear are clunky and unpredictable. 2026 marks a deep dive into the unknown: new regulations, new teams and, for most of the field, new dreams. Disregard the usual gossip and murmurs. The truth is that nobody really knows what to expect.
And so it was 4,000 miles from UK’s so-called “Motorsport Valley” in the Midlands and Oxfordshire, which hosts six of the now 11 teams, where the love-or-loathe F1 launch season began in piercing sub-zero conditions on Thursday night. The venue was Michigan Central Station in Detroit, with temperatures around -10C, as Red Bull took to the stage alongside one of America’s biggest car manufacturers.
Full piece below:
Why Ford are ‘climbing a mountain’ in hope of powering Max Verstappen to F1 glory
Isack Hadjar, after setting fastest time on day one:
“It was pretty productive. Surprisingly we managed to do a lot more laps than expected. Everything went quite smoothly.
“We only had minor issues, so it’s quite impressive considering this was our first day with our own engine.
“Honestly, it was pretty decent for a first day. It doesn’t feel too far off from what I’m used to based on my first season. All the upshifts and downshifts were okay. There are still a few things to tweak, of course, but it has been solid.”
Leclerc and Verstappen out there on wet tyres
Unsure if it’s full wets or intermediates (probably the latter) but Leclerc’s Ferrari and Verstappen’s Red Bull remain out on track despite the wet conditions.
Leclerc has set four timed laps, with a fastest time in the region of 1:46.
One hour left of this morning’s testing period...
NEW: F1 signs ‘incredible’ multi-year deal with Liverpool’s long-term sponsor
Formula 1 has signed a multi-year deal with Standard Chartered, the long-term shirt sponsor of Liverpool FC.
The new partnership will see the British multinational bank support the all-female racing series, F1 Academy, and provide “enhanced trackside activations for its clients and guests.”
More below:
F1 signs ‘incredible’ multi-year deal with Liverpool’s long-term sponsor
Charles Leclerc back on track
With that initial downpour having passed, Leclerc is back out on the circuit for Ferrari.
Still no word yet on whether McLaren will take to the circuit today. If they don’t, we would expect to see them through all of the remaining days this week.
Williams make shock call to miss first F1 2026 test after ‘delays’ in car development
Williams have withdrawn from the private F1 pre-season test in Barcelona following “delays” to their car development programme.
James Vowles’s outfit, who boast an impressive driver pairing in Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, have long targeted 2026 and this new set of regulations as a year to work their way up the pecking order.
Yet following reports that the team’s 2026 car, the FW48, had failed the FIA’s mandatory crash tests, the team confirmed on Friday that they will not be present at the shakedown event for all 11 teams.
Rain in Barcelona
Teams do have wet-weather tyres to test from Pirelli on-site this week, so a bit of rain doens’t completely mean no action on track.
Light rain is currently around the circuit.
Main thing of note so far this morning was Max Verstappen had a small moment at turn 5, kicking up some gravel on track, which triggered a brief red flag.
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