Jon Noble and Edd Straw spent Monday outside Formula 1's private first 2026 test. Here's how it went...
Look up above the final sector of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and across the road outside the track, you can see a hiking trail running across a ridge.
At one end it drops into the small town of Parets del Valles, while the other leads to an industrial estate before hitting the back end of nearby Granollers.
The huge open grass space offers a view of the snow-topped Montseny Massif mountain range in the distance, and at the weekend, apart from a few dog walkers, it was used by children getting some practice in on their motocross bikes.
Want more insight from the Barcelona test? Edd Straw filmed his first impressions of 2026's closed test over on The Race Members' Club - where right now you can claim a free 7-day trial
This place is one also well known to F1 fans and media because it offers a view from outside the track of the final sequence of corners at Barcelona, with different vantage points giving a clear line of sight to Turn 10, or the pitlane entry and final corner.
Having earned itself the nickname of "The Hill", it is the location where photographers will often get shots of cars testing, or fans without tickets will come to get a glimpse of the F1 and MotoGP races.
This is what made it a logical place for those unable to get into the track for the first test - because media and fans were banned - to sit, watch and understand a little about what to expect from F1's 2026 cars.
That is exactly why we headed there.
But with it quickly becoming clear that there is a desire for no uncontrolled information from the test to get out, a super-strict security lockdown imposed around the circuit meant that this area too was suddenly made off limits.
It took just 18 minutes of testing to get under way before the first security car turned up and ordered a handful of assembled journalists and photographers away - including The Race's Jon Noble.
And while local journalists with better knowledge of the area tried to argue that this was public land as a hiking trail, the insistence from security was that everywhere that has a view of the track was off limits because it is owned by the track.
This wasn't about spy shots or illegal filming. The message was simple: being anywhere where you could see the track was banned.
Our banishment was far from the last that security would have to do though, as they then seemed to get themselves in a cat-and-mouse chase with other media, film crews, and even fans who were finding vantage spots all around the area and all needing to be moved on.
Updates from testing
- Gary Anderson's verdict on the 2026 McLaren F1 car
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- Security clampdown outside F1's private 2026 test
As soon as a group of onlookers were told to disperse, they would decamp to another area - continuing the chase.
One group was spotted in a gravel car park that overlooks Turn 13.
Several individuals were seen behind some trees further down the hiking ridge that offers a clear sight of Turn 10.
One photographer was even spotted in the distance, atop some concrete barriers, capturing more of the final sequence of corners.
The security cars could be seen arriving at these spots to shuffle people on. But, by the time they had cleared one area, others had started reappearing where they were previously. So the cycle kept repeating itself.
Efforts were then made to try to ban anyone from all of the roads around the circuit, but that was more difficult to implement with so many access points from the outside.
Even those not able to get a viewpoint of the track came under the watchful eyes of security.
The Race's Edd Straw was sat listening on the outside of Turn 3, behind the circuit perimeter wall, and came under the gaze of a guard.
But there was some amusement when a flatbed truck stopped by the wall, lifted its tail up at an angle and then the driver climbed to the top to see if he could get a view of the track - failing to do so despite standing on tiptoes.
Straw, who left soon after, gave the security guard a polite wave as he departed. He did not get anything in response.
The tough security stance imposed on fans and media in public areas near the track seemed slightly excessive considering social media feeds and websites were full of images, live timing and commentary anyway, of all that was going on in the test.
And on a day where fears of a red-flag fest due to the complexity of the 2026 cars had not materialised, it just further added to the mystery about why there had been such a push to lock everything down for F1's first test rather than shout loudly about its brave new era.
