Lewis Hamilton’s Barcelona P1 under spotlight amid ‘handful’ Ferrari SF-26 talk

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari snatched the unofficial P1 time from Mercedes late in the Barcelona shakedown, though caution may be required.

According to Sky F1 presenter Craig Slater, he has been told by “several individuals” from rival teams that the Ferrari SF-26 was a “handful” in Barcelona. As such, he is placing Ferrari behind Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull in the initial F1 2026 pecking order. Bernie Collins though, believes Hamilton’s positivity is a “good sign” for Ferrari.

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While it is too early to say for sure, just going off unofficial times and lap counts from a closed-doors test, Ferrari has made a positive start to its pre-season programme.

The unofficial lap counter had Ferrari ending the five-day Barcelona shakedown on 442, placing them second only to Mercedes.

Hamilton meanwhile clocked a 1:16.348 with moments to spare at the end of Day 5, which toppled Russell’s long-standing benchmark in the Mercedes W17 by one tenth.

“I think the top four coming out of there is the top four that we had last year. So the Ferrari, the Mercedes, the McLaren and the Red Bull,” suggested Bernie Collins, the former McLaren lead performance engineer and ex-Aston Martin strategy chief, turned Sky F1 pundit.

Sky F1’s Craig Slater and Ted Kravitz set about piecing together the F1 2026 pecking order out of the gate, based on what went down in Barcelona, and the information which Slater said he had been receiving from sources.

“Multiple people from those top four teams, do think those top four teams are the top four,” Slater confirmed.

Slater and Kravitz both placed Mercedes at the top of the pile, with Slater’s information suggesting that Red Bull and McLaren are in close quarters behind the Silver Arrows.

As for the final name in that quartet, Ferrari, despite Hamilton setting the fastest time of the Barcelona test, what Slater has been hearing about the SF-26 car is not unanimously positive.

“A lot of people are saying the Ferrari looks quite a handful, actually,” said Slater.

“Several individuals, from different teams, have said that to me.

“Maybe that’s the downside to that car right now.”

Slater deemed that Alpine “clearly” is the leading squad outside of that top four, while Aston Martin and Williams remain unknowns, Aston Martin having only debuted their AMR26 late on Day 4, while Williams missed the Barcelona shakedown entirely, but will be in Bahrain for the first official pre-season test.

More Barcelona test reaction from PlanetF1.com

Shakedown conclusions: Mercedes back in the light, Red Bull finds peace, key Newey question

Winners and losers from the Barcelona testing shakedown (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya)

Returning to Ferrari, despite the information which Slater has been getting, Collins put value in how Hamilton reacted to the test.

Although he said Ferrari still has “work to do”, Hamilton responded very well to Ferrari’s running in Barcelona, calling it a “hugely enjoyable week”, and speaking of a “winning mentality” within Ferrari that is at an all-time high since he joined.

Such enthusiastic comments were at times hard to come by in Hamilton’s challenging first season with Ferrari in 2025.

“I think the Ferrari topping it, and just even how positive Lewis has come out, is a good sign for that,” Collins noted.

“I think the Mercedes does look very, very strong. So, although it’s not top of the timesheets, between it and McLaren, I do expect them to be right up there.

“Timesheets in testing are a tricky business. And unofficial timesheets in testing, with no tyre information, is even more of a tricky business.

“But I think the one thing that I would take from all of the lap times out there is that these cars are performing much, much better than some of us feared. And there’s still some to come in the power unit. It’ll be interesting to see it over a long run.

“There’s going to be a lot more to pick out of Bahrain in a few weeks time, hopefully.”

The first Bahrain test will take place from 11-13 February, before a second and final testing outing in the nation from 18-20 February.

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