F1 2026’s Catalunya Shakedown Unofficial Laptimes Table

The don’t-call-it-a-test shakedown for the F1 teams ahead of the huge technical rule changes that the 2026 season brings is now complete. The 11 teams were allowed to run on any three of the five available days, and they were not allowed to combine a morning from one day with an afternoon on another. Whilst wet weather did impact Tuesday’s running, that would still be quite a valuable day to see how the new regs and the active aero kit worked in the rain.

I’ll be providing some air-chair analysis later in the week, but here are the unofficial, unconfirmed best laptimes from the 20 drivers that took part. Williams did not join the test as their car was not ready. Aston Martin only took part in two days, unveiling their car late on Thursday, only for it to break down early.

F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown fastest laptimes

Position	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Day
1	Hamilton	Ferrari	1:16:348	Day 5
2	Russell	Mercedes	+0.097	Day 4
3	Norris	McLaren	+0.246	Day 5
4	Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.305	Day 5
5	Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.733	Day 4
6	Piastri	McLaren	+1.098	Day 5
7	Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.238	Day 5
8	Gasly	Alpine	+1.359	Day 5
9	Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.811	Day 1
10	Ocon	Haas	+2.045	Day 5
11	Bearman	Haas	+2.075	Day 5
12	Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+2.103	Day 4
13	Lawson	Racing Bulls	+2.492	Day 4
14	Colapinto	Alpine	+2.802	Day 3
15	Hülkenberg	Audi	+3.522	Day 5
16	Bortoleto	Audi	+4.371	Day 5
17	Alonso	Aston Martin	+4.447	Day 5
18	Bottas	Cadillac	+4.572	Day 5
19	Pérez	Cadillac	+4.676	Day 4
20	Stroll	Aston Martin	+30.056	Day 4

As always, testing (don’t call it a test, Simon) and shakedown times will never tell the full story, but it does feel like the outline of a pecking order is starting to get established. It is also worth noting that pole position in 2025 was a 1:11.546, and whilst the cars are expected to be a few seconds slower, I doubt anyone was thrashing their cars about.

F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown total lap count per team

Reliability was the big question, especially after the 2014 regulation changes saw all kinds of dramas, but this hasn’t proven to be a huge factor… yet, anyway! Most of the teams got some excellent running in.

Position	Team	Laps Completed
1	Mercedes	502
2	Ferrari	440
3	Haas	386
4	Alpine	349
5	Racing Bulls	319
6	Red Bull Racing	303
7	McLaren	291
8	Audi	240
9	Cadillac	164
10	Aston Martin	65

F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown total lap count by engine power unit

With new power unit manufacturers and teams swapping suppliers ahead of a new era, there’s plenty of intrigue here, too. The more mileage, the more data, and in theory, the quicker an improvement can be identified and implemented.

Position	Power Unit Manufacturer	Laps Completed
1	Mercedes	1142
2	Ferrari	990
3	Red Bull Power Trains	622
4	Audi	240
5	Honda	65

The first official test for F1 2026 takes place in Bahrain between the 11th and 13th of February. Hurrah for media being allowed in! I’ll be covering the test from my armchair, but will launch some unsolicited opinions and thoughts from the Barcelona shakedown later this week.

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