The third day of closed-door Shakedown testing for Formula 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya started at 9:00 AM local time, but it didn’t manage to maintain the smooth flow seen during the first two days.
While only two teams – Ferrari and Red Bull – were on track yesterday, sampling both dry and wet conditions, today six teams are running on the Catalan track, five of which immediately left their garages to maximize track time.
Audi was on track with Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine with Franco Colapinto, Mercedes fielded George Russell in the morning and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the afternoon, Haas ran Oliver Bearman, Racing Bulls debuted rookie Arvid Lindblad, and McLaren was expected to make its first appearance with the MCL40 driven by reigning world champion Lando Norris.
Despite two hours having already passed in the morning session, the teams were only able to work in short bursts due to technical issues that forced two cars to stop on track, requiring tow truck intervention and causing several minutes of lost running time.
The first red flag came from the Audi R26 driven by Nico Hulkenberg. At 9:55 AM, the German driver stopped the car between turns 9 and 10 due to a technical fault while performing aerodynamic tests. The R26 was equipped with full sensor rakes positioned in front of the rear wheels.
For the German team, led by Jonathan Wheatley, this was the second issue in just two days. On day one, Gabriel Bortoleto was forced to stop after 27 laps and did not return to the track. Audi hopes to resolve the problem quickly to allow Hulkenberg back on track as soon as possible and avoid further lost running time.
The second red flag was caused by the Haas VF-26 driven by Oliver Bearman. The British driver, now entering his second F1 season, stopped at turn 2 at 10:32 AM. He also required assistance to return the car to the garage.
As a factual note, the fastest driver in the first two hours was Franco Colapinto with the Alpine A526, posting a time of 1:21.897 (times provided by SoyMotor). Even more notable is Mercedes’ performance, as George Russell managed to complete 27 laps, making him the most active driver of the morning so far.
Meanwhile, just a few minutes before 11:00 AM, the McLaren MCL40 finally made its track debut with Lando Norris at the wheel. Early video footage circulating online clearly shows that the car’s sidepods are already quite different from the renders released by Woking a few days ago. We will wait for the first official photos to provide a closer look at the real shape of the car that Andrea Stella’s team will rely on to defend its 2025 titles.
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