Barcelona Day 1: Hadjar tops opening F1 2026 running as Alpine and Audi hit trouble

Michelle Foster
Isack Hadjar in the RB22 at Barcelona

Formula 1 welcomed its all-new technical era on Monday as seven of the 11 teams took to the Barcelona circuit where there were notable – based on a quick look at the unofficial timesheet – winners, and it was Red Bull and Mercedes.

The first official pre-season outing, a five-day test billed as a ‘shakedown’ for the teams, began on Monday morning with the teams permitted to run on three of the five days.

The first laps of F1 2026 have been covered

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McLaren and Ferrari announced that they would not be in action on Day 1, while Williams revealed it would not run at all as “we continue to push for maximum car performance”. The team will instead conduct a series of tests, including a virtual test track programme.

Aston Martin’s participation was uncertain, PlanetF1.com understanding the team’s pre-season was set for a delayed start but the exact details had yet to be confirmed by the team.

That meant only seven of the 11 teams would potentially run on the opening day of the behind-closed-doors test.

After the opening hour, where times were not officially published by unofficial sources suggested the morning belonged to Isack Hadjar and Red Bull.

Mercedes, Audi and Alpine quickly signalled their intent to run as the three teams left the pit lane as the clock struck 9am and the track was given the green light.

And what a start it was for Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli.

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Billed as the favourites in the pre-season given Formula 1’s new engine formula and Mercedes’s success the last time F1 adopted new engines back in 2014, the Italian clocked the opening lap time of F1 2026 – a 1:31:772.

Racing Bulls, Haas, Cadillac and Red Bull also completed laps in the opening hour.

While it must be noted that the times are not official as it’s a behind-closed-doors test, there were sources posting the morning’s timing.

The 1:31.7 put him P1 in the early running, with the Italian slowly but surely improving his time to a 1:22.3 in the second hour of running. That put him ahead of Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Borteloto.

But such was the disparity in programmes, the leading trio were separated by 2.9s.

Colapinto had the dubious honour of being the first to bring out a red flag in F1 2026 when he stopped at the exit of Turn 1/Turn 2. But after a few minutes, the Alpine driver got going and the track was green-lighted.

Entering the third hour of running, and having covered the RB22’s installation laps after Red Bull opted not to do a shakedown before the test, Isack Hadjar began to work his way up the order from last to third, behind Antonelli and Liam Lawson.

The second red flag came just about the two-and-a-half-hour mark as Bortoleto stopped at the apex at Turn 10. Audi revealed it was a “technical issue” that the team is “investigating”.

Antonelli, with his 1:22.3, sat P1 heading into the third hour of testing, the Mercedes driver 0.7s ahead of Lawson with Hadjar a further half a second down. The seven drivers were separated by 9.5s with Bottas P7 in the Cadillac.

The Mercedes driver’s stint up in P1 appeared to end just before the lunch break as Hadjar in the Red Bull went quickest with a 1:20.494, over a second and a half up on Antonelli’s best, upping that to a 1:20.300.

The Red Bull debutant finished off with a 1:18.835, just over seven seconds down on last year’s Spanish GP pole position but with slower tyres, much colder conditions and Day One in a brand-new car.

Some of the teams broke for an unofficial lunch with practice starts with Hadjar said to be quickest of all ahead of Antonelli and Colapinto.

The teams have not confirmed whether they will swap drivers at the lunch break. Stay tuned, and we’ll bring you all the action.

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