Barcelona Day 4: Mercedes stamps its authority on shakedown as Hamilton spins

Mercedes’ numbers during the Barcelona shakedown continued to signal a warning to its rivals with Kimi Antonelli not only topping the lap count, but also the timesheet on the morning of Day Four.

The Italian clocked an unofficial 1:17.081, the fastest time of the week so far.

Mercedes on top in Thursday morning’s shakedown

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While Haas confirmed that it would not run on Thursday, opting to cover its third and final day on Friday after Wednesday’s reliability gremlins, reports emerged claiming Red Bull too would not be on track as the Milton Keynes squad waits for parts for the RB22 after Isack Hadjar crashed on Tuesday.

The components are expected to be flown out today, so the team can get them fitted and get back in action on Friday.

Mercedes, meanwhile, was one of the first on track as the team began its final day with a fair amount of extra hard wear in the form of aero rakes on the car.

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin revealed that Thursday’s programme would involve working on the set-up of the W17, having racked up better than expected mileage on its first two days.

“We’re going to get stuck into a bit of setup work, trying to just explore what we can do with the tools available,” he said. “Try and get the car dialed in a bit better, so working on as well the softer range of the tyres.”

There was no sign of Aston Martin in the opening hours with unconfirmed reports from the circuit claiming it will only be on track in the afternoon, with Lance Stroll expected to be behind the wheel.

Lewis Hamilton had a dramatic moment in the first hour as he pitched the Ferrari SF-26 into a 360′ spin at Turn 10.

¡Trompo de Hamilton!

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— Nachez (@Nachez98) January 29, 2026

As the second hour of running ticked by, Antonelli was reportedly up to 42 laps with Hamilton on 41. The Italian was also ahead on the unofficial timesheet with a 1:17.913, putting him almost two seconds ahead of Liam Lawson and 2.3s ahead of Hamilton. Sergio Perez was also out on track for Cadillac with Oscar Piastri behind the wheel of the McLaren.

Antonelli upped his pace to a 1:17.081, which was the fastest time seen so far this week. It was, however 5.5s down on last year’s pole position time.

Hamilton improved to second place in the third hour of running, but was 1.5s down on Antonelli with Piastri up to third ahead of Lawson and Perez.

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Wrapping up the final hour of running, Antonelli’s lap stood as the time to beat as the Italian added another P1 to Mercedes’ growing tally for the week.

Antonelli will step out of the car at lunch with George Russell taking over for the afternoon session before Mercedes leave Barcelona.

Barcelona Day 4 morning: Unofficial lap times

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 1:17.081 – 90 laps
Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 1:18.419 – 48 laps
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – 1:18.654 – 87 laps
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – 1:18.840 – 64 laps
Sergio Perez, Cadillac – 1:21.349 – 38 laps

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