Lando Norris takes to the track for McLaren on day 3 of the Barcelona shakedown. Image: McLaren
Running resumed in cold conditions on Wednesday morning, with George Russell first out for Mercedes and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad logging his first laps of the event.
Franco Colapinto joined in for Alpine, while Ollie Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg made their Barcelona debuts for Haas and Audi respectively, as six teams took advantage of improving weather to rack up significant running.
McLaren appeared later in the session after final garage preparations, with reigning world champion Lando Norris finally taking to the track in the MCL40 carrying the #1.
By the end of the day, the Woking squad had completed more than 70 laps as it began its first proper on-track evaluation of the new regulations-era car.
Mercedes again emerged as the standout in terms of mileage and outright pace. Russell and Kimi Antonelli combined for well over 180 laps, with Antonelli going fastest overall in the afternoon after taking over the W17.
Russell played down any significance in the lap times, pointing to the conditions rather than performance.
“We got a huge amount of laps in today between Kimi and I, which was great,” Russell said.
“The track was two degrees [Celsius] this morning, so I think maybe one of the coldest track temps I’ve ever driven in!
“But everything went really smoothly, and just getting through our test program.”
Antonelli, who endured a disrupted opening day earlier in the week, was encouraged by a more representative run on Wednesday afternoon.
“It was a better day today for me, because Day 1 was a bit disrupted by the wet track in the morning,” he explained.
“It was very enjoyable, this afternoon I did a lot of laps and was able to put a race sim [in], which was nice.
“Most important is that we did a lot of laps, a lot of mileage and a lot of data for the team, so it was a good day overall.”
Lindblad also completed extensive mileage for Racing Bulls, describing his first full shakedown outing as an important milestone despite brief interruptions.
“Obviously I was very happy to run today,” he said.
“The plan was to run yesterday but obviously with the rain it got delayed, so I was very excited to sort of get my first proper go this morning.
“I’ve really enjoyed the day, it’s been really good.”
Two other red flags occurred during the day, caused by Bearman and Hulkenberg, with the latter stopping due to a “real basic” hydraulic issue according to Audi.
For McLaren, the focus was firmly on systems checks and first impressions rather than performance. Norris stressed that Wednesday marked the first time the MCL40 had been fully assembled.
“It’s literally not been built until this morning, so it’s an incredible thing,” Norris said.
“Nice to see it all come together, nice to see all the hard work that everyone does to make that car, and then I get to go and have some fun and drive it, which turned out to be a decent day.
“Today was really just a first understanding of the whole car, understanding just how it works really, going through the manual of everything.
“A productive day, but it’s one that’s really about just figuring stuff out, making sure things are working as they should, understanding things, getting our first picture on all of it.”
Asked about how the 2026 car compared to its predecessor, Norris admitted the challenge has shifted.
“It’s pretty different. Not even a huge step, I think it’s a bit of a step slower in terms of cornering speeds,” he said.
“In terms of acceleration and straight-line speed, it probably feels quicker than it did last year.”
Oliver Bearman gets some laps in. Image: Haas
Haas endured a more stop-start day, with Bearman’s running curtailed by technical issues after an encouraging start to the week.
Audi also lost time early due to its hydraulic issue, though Hulkenberg was able to recover and complete close to 70 laps as the team continued its transition into its first season under the Audi name.
“A slow start today for us, but then we got a grip on everything and [had] a very productive, good afternoon,” Hulkenberg said.
“A decent amount of laps in, a few things discovered and tested.”
Alpine fielded both drivers across the day, with Pierre Gasly taking over in the afternoon and noting the scale of adaptation required with the team’s new Mercedes power unit.
“I must say, a lot feels different to what I’ve felt in my entire career in Formula 1, so there are quite a lot of references to reset,” Gasly said.
Ferrari and Red Bull remained on the sidelines after completing running earlier in the week, while Aston Martin is set to finally begin its program on Thursday.
With several teams down to a single remaining test day and weather conditions expected to influence decisions, attention now turns to how the final two days of the Barcelona shakedown will be split.
Results: Formula 1 pre-season shakedown Day 3 (unofficial)
Pos
Driver
Team
Time
Laps
1
Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
1:17.362s
91
2
George Russell
Mercedes
+0.218s
92
3
Lando Norris
McLaren
+0.945s
76
4
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
+1.788s
58
5
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+1.935s
67
6
Ollie Bearman
Haas
+1.952s
42
7
Arvid Lindblad
Racing Bulls
+2.058s
120
8
Nico Hulkenberg
Audi
+3.648s
68
