Mercedes was the first 2026 Formula 1 car to take to the track during the opening day of the Barcelona pre-season test.
F1’s first pre-season test is taking place behind closed doors at Barcelona, with no media or fans permitted inside - so only a drip feed of information is being released from F1 and the teams.
But with some of our own team just outside the circuit, we’ve been able to piece together some of the key events at the start of the first day, along with what’s been officially released.
Teams are allowed to run on a maximum of three of the five days at Barcelona - and seven of the 11 teams went out within the first hour of Monday.
F1's first 2026 test may be 'closed' - but we're getting as close as we can and gleaning every bit of info we can for you. Go behind the scenes with Edd and Jon in The Race Members' Club now, with a seven-day free trial
Mercedes was first out on track shortly after the green light came on at the end of the pitlane at 9am local time, with Kimi Antonelli at the wheel.
He was followed by the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and the Alpine of Franco Colapinto.
Also out were Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Esteban Ocon (Haas) and Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac).
McLaren and Ferrari have already confirmed they won’t be running until day two (and potentially day three in McLaren’s case), while Williams is skipping the entire test.
Aston Martin has also been rumoured to not be running until later in the week with its 2026 car.
Mercedes completed more laps than anyone else during the first hour - almost twice as many as the next car - and Antonelli was visibly starting to push the car far more than others, likely placing him well clear at the top of the timesheets.
Haas and Audi, who both completed shakedowns (at Fiorano and Barcelona, respectively) prior to the test, also logged plenty of laps, with the other four teams just completing a handful so far.
Among them was the Alpine of Colapinto, who completed a couple of laps, one of which included a wobble at the Turn 10 left-hander before he returned to the pits.
